Mirror People
by Lord Candycane
Summary: Siblings David and Janet find their lives changed forever when they take an injured orphan named Sam to their house only to find out he is a Mirror Person, people who have supernatural powers and live in the mysterious Mirror dimension. And when the city is endangered by a disturbed mirror child, the three must put an end to the madness before it's too late. R&R.
1. Prologue

Everyone in Crystal City knew what a Mirror Person was. They could fly, they could fire blue laser beams out of their eyes and mouth, they could shape-shift their hands into objects, they had a living reflection, but most notable, they all had a mirror.

A mirror that could send you into the Mirror World, a world of black and blue. Was this true? Had anyone ever seen a Mirror Person pass into the Mirror World? Had anyone ever even seen a Mirror Person before?

The answer is yes.

Two young siblings would find that all of it was true when they met a very unusual boy. A boy with black hair and a blue streak in it.

…..

"Rise and shine, Sammy."

A little boy, five or six, groaned as he struggled to open his eyes. A young girl was sitting next to him on the bed. She seemed to be about a year older than him, and she had Venetian blonde hair and hazel eyes. She was wearing a white dress.

The boy, who she identified as 'Sammy', got up from the bed and yawned.

"I told you, Amanda, I prefer to be called Sam." The boy corrected. "And what do you mean, 'rise and shine'? It's 2:00 in the morning. Go to sleep like the other orphans."

Indeed, the room was filled with dozens of other young boys and girls. They were all asleep and they were all dressed in white.

Except the boy.

The boy was wearing black pyjamas. Giant blue dots were splattered all over it. His hair matched his clothing, being black with a bright blue streak in it. His eye color was relatively normal, being blue.

"I think I saw something," Amanda whispered.

"You always see things," Sam reminded. "Like when you said you saw ball lightning flying through the staircase, or when you said a ghost was talking to my sister…"

"It was a child who was glowing blue."

"…What?"

Before Amanda could respond, Sam bolted out of his bed and flew through the hallways of the orphanage. But not figuratively. He was literally _flying._

"Sam, that woman who runs the orphanage said you can't be using your powers 1:00 to 12:00 in the morning!" Amanda shouted after him. But he was long gone by then.

"Oh, I really hate it when you do that," Amanda whispered and walked slowly down the hallway where Sam had disappeared to. She was trying desperately not to awaken any of the orphans with her walking.

She wasn't doing a very good job at it, though. The ground creaked every time she walked. She wasn't very heavy, but it seemed she just had a peculiar way of walking that caused the ground to creak a lot whenever she took a step.

Amanda could hear yawning and complaining and crying from outside of the room the orphans were sleeping in. At that point she stopped tip-toeing and simply took a mad dash down the hallways. She wasn't about to stay and have to explain everything when Miss Whatever-Her-Name-Is inevitably went over to hear what all the ruckus was about.

Sprinting down the stairs, Amanda could see that the hallway downstairs was starting to become brighter, especially in comparison to how dimply lit the orphans room was.

It wasn't very comforting, considering the bright light was blue, which highly resembled the blue child she claimed to have witnessed.

By now, she could see Sam. He was hiding behind a wall and peering through the edge of the corner. His bright blue eyes were widened in shock and horror and his forehead was matted with sweat.

"Sammy!" Amanda said rather loudly. Sam snapped his head over to her and put his finger to his lips to signal her to quiet down. She got the hint.

"Sammy," Amanda whispered. "Isn't that your sister? Her 'mirror counterpart' or whatever you said they are?"

"We are getting out of here," Sam said bluntly and took Amanda by the arm. He tiptoed towards the stairs with Amanda in tow, but then the worst thing happened.

She took one step, and the ground creaked.

Instantly, the bright light started glowing even brighter and this time, what appeared to be glowing blue girl, slightly older than both of them, appeared from around the corner.

"Come on, get out of here," Sam said to Amanda, pushing her up the stairs. "I'll talk to her."

"But I've seen what happens when you upset her, she'll just-"

Not another word was uttered. A thin blue blast was fired from the blinding bright light at the two. It zipped right past Sam and slashed through Amanda's side before dissipating into thin air.

For a moment, the two children just stood there on the stairs, staring at each other in shock, and then, Amanda collapsed on the staircase, rolling down the stairs.

"A-Amanda?" Sam whispered before running to her and holding her up.

"Amanda, are you okay?" He asked worriedly. She was breathing, but just barely. Blood was dripping from the cut in her side.

By now, the bright blue girl had vanished, leaving the two children on the floor.

"Amanda, please be okay," Sam whispered, cradling Amanda and nearing tears.

The door next to the two creaked open, revealing the orphan keeper. She had clearly been awoken by the ruckus that had preceded Amanda's injury. She looked particularly exasperated and irritated, but gasped in shock when she saw the unconscious Amanda.

"Oh my," Was all she managed to whisper.

"Get help, Miss Collette," Sam whispered to the orphan keeper. Miss Collette just stood there, unsure of what to do.

"Get help," Sam repeated, a hurricane of negative emotions flooding his brain.

"…Please."

**(A/N: Well, the first chapter is over. Also, special mention, my plan is to make this into an actual movie when I'm older. So, hooray to me! R&amp;R)**


	2. Mirror People

_**Two years later**_

"Rise and shine, David!"

David's green eyes snapped open. His sister Janet was sitting on top of him. Instantly, he snapped up from his bed covers, sending Janet flying on the floor. She rolled around, giggling.

"Great Giza, Janet, I told you to stop doing that!" David shouted, slamming his fist on the bed. "I'm the older sibling, you're supposed to listen to me!"

David was ten years old. Janet was eight, but to David, she was four. She always bounced around everywhere and always snuck into his room to wake him up. Other than that, she was okay.

"Yeah, but out parents told us they had something important to tell us and that you should be up at 6:00 A.M. to hear it," Janet said, twisting one of her pigtails with her finger.

"Oh come on, it's so early," David whined. "Our parents keep us home schooled all the time so why do we need to get up now?"

"David?" The two heard their mother shout from downstairs. "Janet?"

From the tone of her voice, both David and Janet could tell their mother really wasn't in the mood for excuses. With a groan, David dragged himself out of bed and towards the door with Janet skipping behind him.

Ever since David and Janet were born, their parents had kept them out of school. Their parents never really gave an explanation why, but David didn't really care. All he thought was that he could sleep in all he wanted and avoid having to encounter some really unpleasant kids in the city.

There were his parents. They were sitting at the dinner table, looking as positively boring and non-suspicious as possible. That was strange. David and Janet loved their parents, no denying that, but they always acted somewhat aberrant. Seeing them look so normal was a pretty big shocker for the two.

Not that their parents didn't look normal. Their father had an average height and had light brown hair and green eyes and a small moustache. Their mother had slightly paler skin, blue eyes, rather long eyelashes, and long wavy black hair. In terms of appearance, David and Janet resembled their father a little more, though Janet had her mom's eyes.

In terms of personality, though, the two always seemed to want to talk about extra-terrestrial theories and the possibilities of a life after death and anything relating to the humanly unknown. It got on David's nerves a lot of the time, but Janet seemed rather invested in it. Typical.

However, despite the cheerful look on their parents faces, David just knew they were going to start chatting off about their inscrutable hypothesises. Why else would they have sent Janet to call him so early in the morning.

"Good morning, son," Their dad said, bizarrely happy. "You seem to be in a chip mood."

David groaned and sat himself down into a chair. "Please, just tell us what you want to say so I can get back into bed."

"Yeah well, we actually have _two _things we want to get off of our chests, so you probably should wake yourself up, son," Their mom butted in.

_Are you kidding me? _David thought, exacerbated. _They had to tell us two different things at once?_

"So, honey, I heard some Texas folk finally caught the chupacabra menace," Their dad piped up. "It was a real shocker, huh?"

"Well, we can only hope someone manages to snatch themselves a live gremlin," Their mom inquired. "Humanity may be on their next step to realizing hidden truths about this strange, strange world."

_Just look in the mirror and you'll find one of those strange truths, _David thought, snickering. He didn't dare say it, though.

"Um, mum, dad, didn't you say you wanted to tell us something," Janet inquired, eating a spoonful of cereal.

"Oh right, we were," Dad said. "Well, get ready, this is going to blow your minds."

"I hope it's for real," David said, rolling his eyes.

"Well, children," Mom began. "We've told you about, vampires, and werewolves, and succubus, and goblins, and sorcerers, and ghouls, and-"

"We get it!" David cried impatiently. "Just get to the point. My bed is beckoning to me!"

"Beckoning beds?" Their mom said, confused. "That's the stupidest myth I've ever heard in my life."

"It's a figure of speech," Janet said. "He means he's tired and wants you to get this over with."

"Oh, well I'll bet he won't be tired and he hears what we have to tell him now," Dad said. "Everyone in the city knows about them, everyone in the city talks about them, except for you."

"And for good reasoning, because they probably don't exist," David said in a smart-alec voice. His parents both huffed.

"Why can't you be like Brenda Collins, she believes what we have to say," Mom said. "Brenda's an idiot, she'll believe anything," David hissed, galled at having been compared to his arch-nemesis.

"Um, you three, shouldn't we get back to what you saying," Janet said, hoping to stop a full-blown argument form breaking out. "That thing that'll 'blow our minds'."

"At least somebody in this house listens to us," Dad said. "Anyways, the anomaly that we are going to speak of today is…..wait for it…..waaaaaait for iiiiiiittt…."

"JUST BLOODY TELL US!" David shouted.

"…..Mirror people."

Silence flooded the room. David's jaw hit the table. Janet raised an eyebrow in confusion. Their parents stared at them, waiting for them to hit them with questions of this mythical creature.

Finally, David spoke.

"That's what you wanted to tell us?" David asked, his eye twitching. "You brought me out of bed at 6:00 A. M. in the morning to talk about…..mirror people? Freaking _Mirror people_?"

"You don't sound very invested," Dad said, worried.

"For the love of….I know what a mirror person is," David said. "Brenda Collins and Izzy talk about them all the time. They're people who have super-powers. Laser eyes, super-strength, flight like they're freaking Superman!"

"And Supergirl," Janet added quietly.

"Ah, but the thing is, you missed out on some very important facts about them," Mom said. "They're called mirror people for a reason."

"And that reason is?" Janet asked, actually interested in what her parents were saying.

"The thing is, Mirror people all have mirrors," Mom said. David glanced at Janet, confused, and then said, "Everyone has mirrors, what's the big deal?"

"Mirror people have mirrors that can lead into a totally different dimension, called…..the 'Mirror dimension'." Mom said.

"Yeah, real fudging original," David said sarcastically.

"That's not the only reason," Dad said. "They have a glowing blue reflection."

"So what?" David asked. "Their reflection is blue, it's not it's alive or anything."

"Except it _is _alive," Dad said. "Their reflection is as alive as the mirror person themselves. They have the same powers, too. In fact, local lore has it that a mirror person's powers are derived from their reflection."

David sat there, wide-eyed. And then he spoke.

"That was…..the crappiest load of rubbish I have ever heard in my entire, 10-year, two month, three hour, 15 minute, 55 second life," David exclaimed. His parents glared.

Janet slid onto the table between David and his parents. "Well, mummy, daddy, you said there was another thing you had to tell us," She said, hoping to avoid another confrontation.

"Oh, well, me and honey hear," Dad said, taking his wife's hand, "Have, after a one-minute discussion, decided that…..we're sending you both to school!" 

"_WHAT?!" _David and Janet shouted simultaneously. "That's the craziest thing you've said this day!" David said. "Why would you want to send us there?"

"We needed a way to get you out of the house for a while," Dad said. His wife elbowed him in the arm, causing him to quickly add, "We saw you two were very anti-social towards the other children, so sending you to school might allow you to befriend somebody."

"Daaaaaaad," David whined. "School's just a place for future psychopaths and nutcases to allow their negative abilities to manifest in ways you can't even imagine."

"Oh, come on, you'll love it there," Mom said. "Besides, you need to learn more things in life."

"We both have learned plenty of stuff right here at home," David assured. "Like what?" Mom inquired.

David gulped a bit and tried to think of something. Then, he managed to find an answer.

"I know girl's don't have cooties."

"You're going," Their parents said, finality in their voices.

David and Janet groaned. This was the going to be the worst day of their lives.


	3. Enter Brenda

A small boy, eight years old, wandered rough the massive forest surrounding Crystal City. He had pale skin, green eyes, short blonde hair, and was dressed in a simple red shirt and blue shorts. He had a gloomy expression.

"What am I going to do?" He mumbled to himself as he briefly stopped walking. "I have no school, I'm practically starving, and these are the only clothes that my sisters allow to me wear that isn't my brother's clothes as well."

He resumed walking a bit, rubbing his head. In front of him, the eaves on a tree rustled and a sparrow zipped out, flying past his face. The boy stumbled backwards in surprise, and then groaned.

A squirrel jumped out of a small hole in the tree and skittered down the tree and right towards him. The boy jumped a bit as the squirrel took off between his legs.

"I hate this forest," The boy grumbled as he sat down next to a rock.

"Well, that's an unpleasant thing to say to your home," A female voice called out from behind him.

Just as the boy spun around to see who had spoken, a girl with very messy brown hair rode towards him on her red scooter. The boy screamed in surprise and stumbled off the rock as the girl sped past him, nearly running him over.

"Hello, Woodstump," The girl said. The boy spit grass out of his mouth and got to his knees, grimacing as he instantly recognized the girl.

"Brenda Collins," He hissed angrily.

"Isn't this fancy meeting you out here at 8:00 in the morning, isn't it Woodstump" Brenda said, glancing at her watch on her right shoulder. The boy groaned. Brenda never bothered to know his name so she just settled with calling him Woodstump after the tree she often found him at.

"Not really, you always meet me around here," The boy reminded, brushing dirt of his face. The ten-year-old girl skipped off her scooter and set it down on the rock.

"Well you barely ever leave here, anyways," Brenda stated. "You only enter the city to cause trouble with everyone else like a little brat. Why is that?"

"You mean like you always cause trouble," The boy shot back. "And I don't cause trouble at all. They messed with me, so I messed with them. It's an eye for an eye, simple."

"No, it's not simple," Brenda said. "You just spend your time in this forest like you live here. You don't go to school, you don't have any relatives as far as me or anyone else is concerned, and you don't have a home. It's like your some kind of hobo or something."

"I am not a hobo," The boy claimed. "I have a home, and relatives, and I don't need to go to school. I'm better off without it."

Brenda laughed. "You are such a stubborn little ragamuffin," She taunted. "If you have all these things you say you have, than where in all of Crystal City are they?"

The boy glared into Brenda's hazel eyes in deep hatred. He wanted to say something, anything, but then he realized he couldn't tell her about his home.

"That's what I thought, Woodstump," Brenda said, victorious, before hopping onto her scooter and turning around to ride off on it. At that point, the boy finally found a retort.

"My home is a lot better than yours, Collins."

Brenda planted her foot on the ground to stop her scooter. She dropped it on the ground, spun around, and stomped towards Sam.

"When you actually show me this home of yours, I'll take your word for it," Brenda said. "But until that happens, you are nothing but a little, measly hobo." With that, she ran off, got back on her scooter and rode off onto the road and towards her school.

"Yeah, well I'll never show you because it's too awesome for the likes of you!" The boy shouted out at her, but she was long gone. He snorted, then turned began to walk past over the road when a small black car drove up.

The boy screamed and leapt out of the way as the car drove past him at top speed.

"Crazy idiots!" The boy shouted. "You almost ran me over!" But the drivers didn't hear him. They were driving over to the same school Brenda was heading to.

"This is so going to blow," David said from in the car. He and Janet were both dressed up in church clothes, having been told by their parents that it would give off a good impression.

"I don't know, David, maybe we could actually befriend a few of those kids," Janet suggested hopefully. David groaned.

"This is even worse than when our parents agreed to have Brenda come over to have play-dates with us several months ago," David said. "And they still let her come over after all that time."

"Hey, quiet back there," Their father barked at them from in the driver's seat. "And besides, we're already here. The Crystal City Independent School District."

David and Janet glanced through the window to get a look at the school. It was certainly a meaningful name; the school was entirely made out of sparkling crystal. It was pretty big, ten stories high. It looked more like an office building than a school.

"Wow, this place is so huge," Janet gasped in amazement. "And weird," David added.

"Now, no more complaining," Their dad said as he and the two got out of the car. "This is your first day of school, and you're going to like it."

"Fast chance of that happening," David mumbled under his breath as he and Janet neared the giant crystal building.

As David, Janet and their dad began to near the school, David whispered to Janet, "Okay, if we're going to survive this day, here are a few tips. Avoid eye contact with Izzy and Brenda, avoid talking to Izzy and Brenda, and just all around avoid Izzy and Brenda."

And then the worst thing happened.

"Hey son, I looked at the school classroom boards, and you're in the same class as Izzy and your best friend Brenda Collins," Their dad said.

David paled.

"W-what?" He stammered. "N-n-no, that c-can't be t-true."

He raced over and glanced at the classroom boards, and his worst fears were confirmed.

**Mrs. Worthington's Class**

**Izzy Olsen – 11**

**Brenda Collins - 10**

**David Barret – 10**

Those were the only three names David read, and his eye twitched. His lips trembled, and he let out a scream.

"NNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

"Well, look what the brat dragged in," A voice said.

David grimaced as he forced himself to turn around and face his worst nightmare. And there she was, the 11 year old, red-headed little horror, Izzy Olsen.


	4. First Day of School

David clenched his knuckles as he stared at Izzy.

There was no mistake about her. Her pale skin, her short red hair that barely reached her shoulders, her shiny green eyes, and her trademark bloody red shirt with pitch black sleeves and dark blue jeans, it was totally Izzy.

"What an occult consternation," Izzy said in her despicably taunting voice. "David Barret and his kid sister Janet. You finally decided to stop living in your shell of a domicile and went to school, didn't you?"

David's eye twitched. He hated that obnoxious way she spoke. Half of the time he didn't even know what she was saying.

Izzy took a look at the school boards and flashed a grimace.

"And what a fallacious coincidence, we're in the same class," She said casually. David groaned, irritated.

"This doesn't make sense," David said. "You're a year older than me, why do we have to be stuck together for the rest of the school year."

"Well, David, 10 and 11 year olds are usually placed in the same classes so it's not out of the ordinary," Janet explained. "I didn't need an answer," David grumbled. "Sorry," Janet whispered, then turned around and started whistling a bit.

"Well, Izzy, your hair sure is shorter," David pointed out, trying to change the subject and also possibly embarrass Izzy as an added bonus.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Izzy said. "Your hair was shoulder length the last time I saw you," David pointed out. "Now it barely goes past your ears."

Izzy's confident expression faltered. "I lacerated it," She claimed. "It helps me stand out from the crowd."

"You mean aside from having the most least common hair color on the whole planet," David said, grinning mischievously. His comment earned him a smack upside the head from his father.

"Son, show more respect for your classmates," His dad berated. "I told you to make a good first impression on them."

David rubbed the back of his head and grimaced. Just then, a teacher blew a whistle, signaling the children to line up in front of their respective teachers for a roll call.

David got in front of the other kids when Izzy pulled him backwards. "I'm the oldest child in this class, therefor I should be first," Izzy said. "That logic sucks," David said. "Just go with it," Izzy whispered and turned her head from him.

The teachers started calling names from the children. It was unbelievably boring for David, so he turned to see what Janet was doing. She was standing behind all the other kids and had a glum expression on her usually cheerful face.

Eventually, the roll call ended and the children all surged into the school, David and Janet included. The two glanced around the school inside. It was massive, and there were so many stairs and rooms and doors. The two grimaced. They weren't used to so many people being in the same place.

Right at the moment, David and Janet wished that they had never gone to school and that they would never go there again. What they didn't know was that outside of the school, someone was thinking the opposite.

"I never get to go to schools," The boy Brenda had talked with earlier said gloomily. He was sitting on a rock a few meters away from the school.

"Why me?" He asked nobody in particular. "Why did I have to be the odd kid out?"

"Hey," A small voice whispered. The boy turned around to see a familiar face. It was a girl with short, curly black hair, blue eyes, and a similar skin tone. She was dressed in a black coat despite it being extremely sunny.

"Oh, hi Kizzy," The boy said. "What are you doing at the school?" Kizzy asked, tilting her head. "Your sisters told you not to go there."

"Yeah, but I was just thinking..."

"No thinking, after all, you said you didn't need school, Sam," Kizzy said. At that, Sam sighed before getting off the rock and following Kizzy away.

...

The school day proved to be just as bad as David had thought it would be. The teachers spent the time spouting out never-ending monologues about the environment and mathematics. The only parts of school he liked, recess and lunch, passed by so quickly it was like they never even happened. And the other kids were unbearable, especially Izzy and Brenda.

David had the bad luck of being seated in front of both Izzy and Brenda. Occasionally, Izzy would poke David with a pencil or a ruler. Every time David would glance around, and every time Brenda would say, "Why are you staring at us girls, ya perv."

Janet wasn't having a much better time. At home she was talkative and cheery, but at school, being unfamiliar with all the other children, she remained quiet and was practically invisible to the teacher and the students, save for one boy with braces who sat next to her and would occasionally yank on her pigtail.

After what seemed like an eternity, school ended. The kids placed their chairs on the desks, packed their school bags and took off. No one was more eager to leave than David. After being tortured endlessly, he was glad to be out of school.

Now, he just had to find Janet, and they would be out of there.

He soon found her near the playground, on a swing. She appeared to be waiting for him. David had never felt so glad before to see his sister, and bolted towards her so they could finally leave the school.

However, he was so happy that he didn't watch where he was going. He unexpectedly crashed into Izzy, who had been talking to Brenda about something.

David crashed face-first on the ground while Izzy stumbled and fell into a mud puddle. David, Brenda and Janet gasped as they saw Izzy splash into the mud puddle.

Izzy's mouth dropped as she saw herself drenched in mud. She glanced up at David, and for a moment, he swore her eyes were glowing with fury. From the look on her face, he was sure he was about to get a smack down or at least a verbal backlash.

But none of it came. Instead, Izzy just got out of the puddle, wiped the mud off her shirt and jeans and said, "If you excuse me, I'm going home. Goodbye, Brenda." With that, she took off into the forest.

"Now look what you did," Brenda berated. "You upset her."

"It was an accident!" David shouted, kind of humiliated himself. "I didn't see her in front of me, and I...I uh..."

"Hey, Brenda, what were you and Izzy talking about?" Janet asked, trying to change the subject. "You both seemed pretty engrossed in it."

"For your information, we were talking about the strange phenomenon known as Mirror People," Brenda answered. "But I doubt your little eight-year-old brain can comprehend what they are."

"Oh for crying out loud, mirror people do not exist!" David shouted, piqued. "Why do all of you refuse to accept that?"

"Because they are real," Brenda said. "People say they've witnessed evidence of it."

"I don't believe you," David said and crossed his arms. "Hey, I think I know what a mirror person is," Janet said. Both David and Brenda turned to stare at her.

"You can't possibly know what they are, you're too little," Brenda said. "No I'm not," Janet said, insulted. "I can prove I know what they are."

"Than what are they?" Brenda challenged.

"They're...uh, humans who have several powers like laser eyes, super strength and flight," Janet answered, remembering what David had said earlier.

Brenda's eyebrow raised in confusion. "Then why are they called Mirror people?" She asked. "Because they have a mirror that can lead them to a different dimension AND they have a living reflection in that dimension."

Brenda stood speechless. She had not expected Janet to have that much knowledge on Mirror people. Eventually, she just said, "Well, uh, I guess I'll be looking forward to our little play date this afternoon, won't we David and Janet?"

Before either of the children could really respond, Brenda took off away from the school. The moment she was gone, David yanked on Janet's pigtails, eliciting a brief scream of pain.

"Why did you tell her that?" He asked. "You know she's just going to pester us about it when she comes over with her parents."

"Yeah, but I just thought maybe that would allow her to respect us," Janet justified. "Brenda will NEVER respect either of us, ever, and that is final!" David shouted. Then he looked at his wristwatch.

"Oh my gosh, it's 3:50!" He shouted. "Mom wanted us home at 3:10!"

Janet gulped, knowing how their mother could get when they got angry. "Come on, before we get the paddle!" David shouted and he grabbed Janet by the sleeves and the two raced down the streets.


	5. Creepy Kids

It was 4:15 in the afternoon. Ever since school had ended, most of the children had either gone home or were still out in the city for various reasons.

The sky was darkening and the sun was starting to get blotted out by large gray clouds, obscuring the light. With the lack of sunlight, it appeared to be night time instead of the afternoon. Nevertheless, the people of Crystal City went on with their usual business.

"I want a Smarties candy," A small Asian girl with pigtails said. Her mother briefly reached for one, but apparently out of nowhere, the Smarties candy was hoisted into the air. Nobody appeared to be touching it.

"What the…" The Dollarama shopkeeper whispered as the Smarties candy floated silently through the air and towards the exit. Everyone stopped and stared, confused, at the candy as it made it's way to the open door, and with a swish, vanished outside.

The moment the candy was outside the door, a small hand snatched it. It was Sam.

"I guess there are some advantages to having super powers," He whispered to himself and ripped the lid off the car before grabbing the Smarties candies and shoving them into his mouth.

He skipped from outside the alley and towards the sidewalk.

"Look at that little orphan without a care in the world," A voice said. Sam grumbled and turned around to see a trio of girls around his age. The tallest one, a blonde girl with blue eyes, was in the front.

"Living alone in a place filled with dangerous wild animals and horrible people," She mocked. "He should of died a long time ago."

"He belongs in an orphanage, that's where," The shortest of the girls with brown hair said. "Surrounded with other kids like him."

Sam glared angrily, enraged at their comments. The three girls didn't seem to notice.

"So, orphan, what are doing alone and helpless in the forest like that?" The dark-skinned girl asked. "Yes, explain orphan," The blonde girl said.

Sam, quite honestly, didn't want to have to explain to the three girls. They probably wouldn't believe him, anyways. So, he decided there was only one way out.

A pick-up truck was driving across the street. Quickly, a third, transparent hand shot out of Sam's back, grabbing the moving truck and yanking it, dragging it's direction to the three girls.

The truck driver and the three girls screamed in terror. However, the driver just barely managed to regain control over the truck and steered it away form the girls. However, the truck splashed a puddle of mud onto all three girls, drenching their clothes.

The three girls screamed in horror. In the confusion, nobody had seen the third hand emerge from Sam's back. They also didn't see Sam slip away and take off down the streets.

"Yeesh, that was a close one," Sam said. He slipped past several people before finding the girl he was looking for,

"Hey, Kizzy!" He said. Kizzy was leaning against the wall to a bar, her arms folded across her chest and her eyes lips pursed as she waited for Sam to come. She looked irritated.

"You sure did a good job of hiding your powers," She said sarcastically when he arrived.

"Oh, you saw that?" Sam giggled nervously. He rubbed the back of his head. Kizzy finally turned to look at him and saw the Smarties candy.

"What is that?" She asked, her eyebrow raised. Sam raised his hand with the Smarties and said, "It's a Smarties candy, I think. I just thought maybe I could-"

Kizzy snatched the Smarties candy. "This is junk!" She snapped before tossing it into a garbage can. "But I thought it tasted good," Sam argued.

"No more talking out of you!" Kizzy hissed. "The bus is arriving, let's just go home before Mirror Bella gets upset at you!"

Indeed, a bus was driving in close to the bar. The doors opened, and a few families started to get inside. Kizzy grabbed Sam by the wrist and dragged him to the bus.

As they started to get in, the bus driver gasped in shock as he saw them. "I know you!" He said. "You're those two creepy kids!"

Kizzy glared at him and growled viciously. The bus driver stared at them, then at the other passengers, who were staring confused at him, and then said, "Of course, you two are allowed on this bus, though."

Kizzy flashed a menacing smile before hoisting Sam into the bus and taking a seat near the front of the buss, along with Sam. As they did, Sam noticed a few of the passengers in the front begin to move to the back of the bus.

"Look at them, they're afraid of us," Sam whispered to Kizzy. "Better that they are, then we get less problems," Kizzy replied as the bus started moving.

Sam sighed as he saw several families move away from his and Kizzy's seat.

Before long, the bus was passing by the forest when Kizzy shouted, "Stop the bus!"

"You want to stop here?" The bus driver asked. "This is the middle of nowhere."

"Exactly!" Kizzy shouted as the driver reluctantly stopped the bus. She and Sam hopped off their seats and took off out of the bus. The driver eventually shrugged and drove off.

"This was an odd day," Sam said. "Aren't they always?" Kizzy replied as she led Sam through the forest. Finally, they stopped a an old tree trunk.

"There it is," Kizzy said, her eyes gleaming in delight as she pushed some leaves off the tree, revealing a large, yellow mirror.

"Now, let's get you inside before we're spotted," Kizzy said. And with that, she suddenly pushed Sam towards the mirror, and he slipped right into it. The surface began to ripple slightly like that of water before settling down.

"Let's just hope Mirror Bella isn't too impatient," Kizzy said. With that, she jumped into the mirror as well.


	6. Violent Encounter

It was 4:30 in the afternoon, and David and Janet were trekking through the forest towards their house, which was still too far away for them to see.

"You know, you would think that our parents would have gone and picked us up at school," David huffed at Janet. "You know, instead of having us walk all the way there."

"I don't know, David, this seems like as good opportunity to exercise," Janet replied enthusiastically. She started balancing on a recently knocked-over tree.

David groaned, exasperated. "Tell that to our parents when we get home over an hour after we were supposed to," He snapped.

Both he and Janet glanced around at the forest around them. The forest looked extremely foreign. There was a roadway a few meters outside the forest, and a massive lake next to it.

"So, uh, just where are we exactly?" Janet asked, somewhat nervous. David didn't respond. The unfamiliar area, coupled by the darkened skies, suddenly increased a sense of fear.

Grabbing Janet's by the arm, David said, "You know what, let's just get out of here before-"

The two heard a hissing sound. The siblings spun around shakily to see a green snake slithering through the grass around them. Janet squeaked and was about to sprint off when she stopped in her tracks. A grey wolf lumbered out from past a tree and stared unmoving at them.

David started hyperventilating at the sight. The wolf continued to glare with it's piercing yellow eyes. Janet's teeth started chattering.

The silence was broken by a howling that caused Janet to yelp and clutch David in fear. The wolf instantly sprinted past them. The two shut their eyes in terror.

AS David opened his eyes a bit, several sparrows flew out of the trees and right over them. David jumped and his mouth opened, but nothing came out.

"Dav-David, I want to go home," Janet whispered to David. David nodded slowly. Then he took one step forward and stepped on a tree branch, causing it to snap in two.

David jumped in shock and landed near a bush. Instantly, the bush started rustling uneasily and they could hear growling sounds inside. As the two kids stared at the bush in fear, a wolverine pounced out towards them.

That did it. David and Janet screamed and took off through the forest, running over tree trunks, rocks, and bushes. They just had to get home and out of this wretched forest.

Soon enough, they found themselves near the edge of the forest at standing at the driveway next to the lake. There were no signs of cars or animals nearby, so it seemed safe enough.

"Okay, that driveway leads to our neighbourhood," David explained. "Let's just get there quickly before it rains, and maybe explain why we were over an hour later."

Janet nodded and the two were about to step out onto the road when they saw something they had neglected to notice beforehand.

It was a little girl. Her back was turned to them, and she was sitting on the road, facing the pond. Her arms were wrapped around her legs and she was rocking back and forth, humming a happy song.

David and Janet inched a bit closer. The sky was darkening quickly, so it was hard to get a good look at her. She seemed totally oblivious to their presence.

"Um, little girl," David whispered. She didn't appear to hear him.

"Little girl, you should probably get off the road," David said, a little louder. "It's dangerous." Once again, the girl ignored him.

David rolled his eyes and walked onto the road. He had to get her off the road before a car came. "You know, you're doing a pretty good job ignoring me," David said, trying to get her attention. She was still humming.

At this point, David was only inches away from the girl, and he could now get a slightly better look at her. She wasn't little; she was at least the same height as him. Her hair was very long and concealed her face, and he could see that she was glowing.

_Glowing._

David's eyes popped open as he suddenly noticed the bright blue aura surrounding her. She was glowing blue, and he could plainly see that her hair and skin were blue as well

"Oh my, oh my, g-gosh," David stammered as he saw the moon, which had appeared earlier than usual, illuminate the girl, revealing her glowing blue skin.

"David?" Janet shouted. She had gone on the road to see what David was doing. And in the worst case of bad luck in the situation, that one word finally caused the glowing blue girl to snap her around and see the two, revealing eyes glowing so bright they were almost blinding.

David and Janet stood on the road, frozen in shock, and the girl jumped up in surprise before flinging her hand at David, causing him to back away, nervous. Instantly, glowing blue ice pellets were fired out of her fingers at David. David gasped in shock and ducked as the pellets flew over his head.

The pellets struck a tree and shattered, sending ice everywhere. Several struck Janet in the head. She gasped in pain and collapsed in pain. David turned around in horror and the ice struck him as well. He went down hard and hit his head on the road.

The girl stared at the two unconscious children in front of her in shock. She glanced at the town and noticed that a large pick-up truck was approaching, the same one that Sam had used to prank the girls at the city.

Without a second glance, the girl turned around and retreated into the forest, leaving the two children to their fate.

…..

"Now, Samson, remember not to near that stupid school tomorrow," Kizzy said. She was dressed in a black nightgown with blue stripes.

"Yes, Kizzy," Sam said. He was dressed in his black and blue pyjamas, and he now looked different. His eyes were blue instead of green, his blonde hair was black with the blue streak in it, and his pale skin was now tanned.

"You be a good mirror boy, and behave like always," Kizzy said. "Now goodnight." With that, she snapped her fingers and the glowing blue room instantly became dark, and she vanished.

Sam sighed. "Why do I always have to go to bed at 5:00 in the afternoon?" He mumbled to himself. He was about to close his eyes, when he heard a scream. It was coming from outside the mirror.

Sam jumped up and got out of his bed. He heard a thud on the pavement immediately afterwards. From the sound of it, it was coming from on the road near the forest.

Slowly, Sam got out of bed. He glanced at the bed next to him. His sister was in it, wearing a similar black and blue pyjamas. Her head was tucked under the covers.

Sam sneaked out of the bed, put on his blue slippers, and slipped out of the room. He felt an uneasiness the moment he was out of the room.

_I should be in bed, _Sam thought to himself. _But I need to find what caused the scream on the road._

He slowly jumped walked to the mirror that was hanging on the wall, and turned back. At the moment, he wanted to just go back in bed and ignore the scream, but he felt like something was telling him to go and find the source of it.

With a shrug, Sam slipped through the mirror, and found himself back in the forest. He covered the mirror with several leaves and then walked over to the road.

He suddenly felt the urge to return to the mirror and go back to bed, but he fought it. He had to go and find who had screamed and why they had. He slowly approached the road, and that was when he saw them.

It was David and Janet. Both of them lay unconscious on the road, and out of the corner of Sam's eye, he could see the pick-up truck driving closer.

"Oh crap!" Sam shouted as he saw the driver hadn't seen the two kids. It was too dark outside for him to notice them. Sam realized that he had to act quickly.

Sam ran near the road and two transparent hands shot out of his back and grabbed David, pulling him near the forest and out of harms way. Soon enough, David was in the forest.

Now Sam turned his attention to Janet. She was groaning in pain, and the truck was getting closer. Sam took a step closer, about to pull her off the road two, when he slipped on the ice on the ground. He collapsed on the ground and rubbed his head in pain. He then glanced up and saw that the truck was only inches away from hitting Janet.

"No!" Sam shouted, and he sprung onto the road and pushed Janet off the road and onto the grass near the lake. However, as Sam was about to run off the road, the truck slammed right into him.

By now, both David and Janet had recovered. The two watched in horror as they saw Sam's small body flung off the road and plummet into the lake. The truck skidded to a stop.

"What just happened?!" The truck driver shouted as he saw that the engine to his truck had been jammed as a result of hitting Sam.

Neither kid answered him. Janet saw Sam sink, unconscious, down into the lake. Quickly, she raced towards the lake.

"Janet, no!" David shouted, but she didn't hear. She just dove right down into the lake after Sam. David raced towards the lake as the truck driver stood out of the truck, confused.

"J-Janet?" David whispered worriedly as neither Janet nor Sam resurfaced. Bubbles were appearing at the top of the lake.

"Janet, where are you?" David asked. The bubbles started becoming more rapid and violent, and David gasped in horror as his sister appeared to be drowning from under the lake.

David covered his eyes in horror, unwilling to look, when he heard a splash. David removed his hands from his eyes and saw Janet, gasping for air, her face soaking with water and her hair wet and matted over her ears. And in her arms, David saw an unconscious Sam.

Janet reached towards David, and he grabbed her arm and pulled her out of the lake, along with Sam. Janet set Sam down on the grass. He was breathing heavily, but there were no signs of serious damage done to him from the truck.

"Is he dead?" Janet asked, ignoring the fact that he was breathing. David glanced down at him. "No, but he's lucky you were there," He said, a little proud. However, he then yanked on her pigtails and added, "Don't ever scare me like that again."

Janet quickly nodded and said, "How'd he survive a head-on collision like that?"

"You know, you probably should get him to a hospital," The driver said form afar. The kids took no notice.

"I don't know, but he must be very strong to have done that," David said. "Seriously, but what were you doing on the road?" The driver asked. Once more, the kids took no notice.

"Look at that stripe in his hair," Janet said, pointing at the blue streak. "It's called a streak, not a stripe," David corrected.

"Why are you worrying about his hair?" The driver asked. When neither kid responded, the driver just said, "You know what, I'm just going to go and get my truck fixed, okay."

David and Janet nodded, scarcely noticing. The truck driver got into his damaged truck and drove off, leaving the three kids.

The clouds started to darken in the skies, and thunder sounded from above. "We should go home," David said to Janet.

"But what about-"

"We'll take him home too!" David said. "Now get up!" He and Janet picked up Sam and started carrying him into the neighbourhood as rain started pouring down on them and lightning struck.


	7. Introductions

Mr. and Mrs. Barret paced around the living room, agitated. It was 5:20 and there was no sign of either of their kids, and they were understandingly displeased. If they had known their kids had nearly died, they still would have been angry.

"I can't believe they stayed out so long in the afternoon of all times," Mr. Barret said. "What could they possibly be doing so late?"

"And Brenda and her parents are coming soon," Mrs. Barret complained. "If David and Janet aren't here then we'll have to entertain them for their stay here."

Th two sat down on the couch and groaned. Immediately afterwards, they heard a knock on the door.

"Oh great, the Collins are here already," Mr. Barret mumbled. "And they came early. Oh well, better invite them in and hide the fact that are kids are missing."

With a groan, Mrs. Barret flung the door open, but lucky for them, it wasn't the Collins, but instead David. He was soaking in the pouring rain, and his school bag was half-open.

"David Barret, you have better have an excellent explanation for not returning to the house in nearly two hours!" Mrs. Barret shouted. "And where's Janet?"

David rubbed the back of his head, nervous, when Janet appeared. "Oh, we have a good explanation alright," She said, revealing an unconscious Sam in her arms.

Their parents gasped in shock. "What happened to him?" Mrs. Barret asked. "He got hit by a truck saving us from death," David explained quickly.

Mrs. Barret pulled on the blue streak in Sam's hair. "Wow, you know what you usually find blue hair on?" He asked her husband.

"You don't think we're really staring at one?" Mr. Barret said in amazement. "You can't be serious," David said in disbelief.

"Yes, the blue streak, the suspicious pattern of his clothing, his eye color," Mrs. Barret said. "Great Heavens, we've found one. We've a mirror person!"

"Oh for the love of..." David said but was cut off by his parents.

"We'll be famous!" Mr. Barret said. "We'll be known as the family that captured a live mirror person!"

"Mom and dad, it's a little boy!" Janet shouted, causing everyone to quiet down. It was rare for Janet to yell at anyone, least of all her family.

"He was hit by a truck and nearly drowned, and you're accusing him of being a mythical creature that may or may not be real?" Janet accused angrily.

Silence filled the room as the three stared at Janet in disbelief. Eventually, however, their dad said, "Well, how about we let our little...'guest' stay over until he heals properly, now should we?"

His wife nodded.

"Besides, I'm sure he'll be in a chipper mood once he's awake," Janet suggested, calming down and regaining her cheerful demeanor.

...

Sam's eyes fluttered open, his vision blurred. He could see the ceiling, but it looked different from the one he was used to. Then he turned his head around and saw two figures.

"Oh, sweet, he's awake," Janet said to David "Hi, little kid!"

Sam's eyes snapped open and in an instant, he jumped up into the air and landed on the ground. The two siblings could here a groan of pain from the other side of the bed.

"Um, are you okay?" David asked.

A hand gripped the covers, and Sam pulled himself up. However, the siblings saw his appearance had been greatly altered. He now had his blonde hair, green eyes, and pale complection.

The two siblings stared in confusion at Sam.

"Well, will you tell me what I'm doing here?" Sam asked, acting like he didn't notice his new appearance.

"Weren't you a brunette a few moments ago?" David asked. "And had blue eyes, and a blue streak, and darker skin?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Sam said with a glint in his green eyes. David's eye twitched. "Oh, of course you have an idea what you're talking about," He said.

"The real question is, who are you and why did you abduct me?" Sam asked, narrowing his eyes.

"I'm Janet Barret, and this is my big brother David Barret," Janet introduced. "And who, may I ask, are you? I've never seen you around here in my life."

"Well I have," David said. "You're that homeless orphan who loiters around in the forest like some creep." Janet elbowed him in the arm.

"So is that why you brought me here?" Sam asked, taking an unsteady step towards them. "You think I'm freaky for not having a home so you decided to kidnap me and give me a home against my will?"

"No, you were hit by a truck and nearly drowned, but I saved you," Janet said.

"You...saved me?" Sam asked, and a look of shock crossed his face. "Yeah, but you were hurt so we had to bring you here to try and nurse you back to health," Janet continued.

Sam retained his uninterested expression and took a few more steps towards the door. "Where do you think you're going," David asked.

"I'm going back to my family," Sam explained. "My brother and sisters should be able to heal me." However, the moment he opened the door, he collapsed onto his knees, groaning in pain.

"You're still injured," Janet said. "There's no way you can get all the way from the neighbourhood to your home, wherever it is?"

"So...you're holding me hostage!" Sam accused, pointing a rigid finger at them. "Well, if you creeps think you can keep me here, I'll...I'll...oh no." He collapsed on the ground, unconscious.

Right at that moment, Mrs. Barret burst into the door. "The Collins are here!"

"Are you kidding me!" David shouted. "No, they are downstairs," Mrs. Barret said. "Make Brenda Collins feel welcome, and get that kid off the floor." With that, she shut the door.

David sighed heavily. "Janet, occupy Sam," He said. "I'll deal with Brenda downstairs and keep her away from both of you."

Janet stared down at Sam, confused. "But you're a boy and he's a boy, and since I'm a girl and Brenda's a girl, shouldn't I be the one to occupy her?" She asked.

"No questions!" David said, and he vanished out the door.

"Um, okay then," Janet said. She glanced at Sam, uncertain. "Oh boy, how am I going to do this?"


	8. The Play-Date

David trailed down the stairs towards the living room to meet with the Collins. Janet's words rang in his head as he did.

''_But you're a boy and he's a boy, and since I'm a girl and Brenda's a girl, shouldn't I be the one to occupy her?"_

Honestly, he truly wished that Janet was the one to occupy Brenda. Then he wouldn't have to spend the afternoon having to entertain that bimbo.

But for some reason, he felt responsible for his sister. He didn't want the likes of Brenda being with Janet or Sam and filling either up with her crap. Janet was much too young for that and Sam may have been acting like a douche, but he was still injured and didn't need any other problems for today.

The moment he was down the stairs, he saw them. There was Brenda Collins with her despicable innocent smile, her despicable messy long hair, and her despicable dirty clothes. And standing next to her were her parents, Bob and Mary.

Bob was short and chubby with fair skin, light blonde hair and green eyes, and he wore striped business clothes with a long red necktie. Mary was rather short as well but was still a head taller than her husband, and had peach skin and dirty dark brown hair and hazel eyes and wore a trench coat. It was clear to see which parent Brenda got her looks from.

"Ugh, this place smells worse than my garbage bin," Mary said, holding her nose in disgust. It was also clear to see where Brenda got her attitude from, it appears.

"Welcome, Mr. and Mrs. Collins," Mrs. Barret greeted. "Yeah, yeah, just get us some rice and chicken and a place to sit," Mary said snobbishly and shoved past David's parents.

"Oh, and have your son direct little Brenda to his room so they can have they're little play date," Bob instructed and followed Mary to the kitchen.

David's parents simultaneously groaned. "Okay, David, do as the Collins say," Mrs. Barret said.

"Yippee!" Brenda shouted and wrapped her arms around David's neck, hugging him tightly. "We're going to have so much fun, Mrs. Barret," She said. David just groaned. He knew Brenda was just feigning innocence to remain on his parents good side.

"Okay, well you two have fun," Mrs. Barret said, sporting a fake smile. As David and Brenda sprinted upstairs, she then added, "While we have to spend the afternoon with those lowlifes."

"So, Davy Jones, where's your kid sister?" Brenda asked David the moment they were upstairs. "I have no idea what you're talking about," David lied.

"You know, Little Jane," Brenda replied. David rolled his eyes. He hated Brenda's knack for nicknaming people. It got so repetitive.

"Little Jane walked across the lane," David responded sarcastically. "Like where you should go."

Brenda laughed a bit and then shoved David into his room. "So you seriously don't believe in them?" She asked, changing the subject. "What are you talking about?" David asked.

"You know, mirror people," Brenda said. David's eye twitched rapidly and he gritted his teeth. "Oh, for the love of…they don't exist!" David shouted. "I'm fed up with this! My whole life is getting turned upside down because of this whole mirror people fiasco!"

"Oh, but they are real," Brenda said. "Everyone knows they're real except for you and possibly Little Jane, who I need to have a word with."

"You will not have any word with Janet and fill her up with your insane hypothesises!" David screamed. "Janet is going to grow up, and she is going to grow up as healthy woman without you being around to trouble her. Am I clear?!"

"Hey, what's going on up there?" The two heard Mr. Barret shout from downstairs. "Uh, nothing dad," David fibbed.

Brenda patted David on the head. "Oh, poor Davy," She mocked. "You act all high and mighty and in control but in the end, you just do what mommy and daddy wants."

David inhaled deeply as he struggled to keep from strangling her. "Ugh, I hope Janet's having a better afternoon than me," He said.

…..

"I'm just saying, boy, you could use a few friends," Janet pleaded to the recently awakened Sam. Sam responded by huffing and tracing around the room, agitated.

"So, Sam, that is what David said your name was, right?" Janet asked. Sam reluctantly nodded. "How did he know what my name is?" He asked.

"Word gets around," Janet suggested. Sam stared at her, and his eyebrow furrowed, and he continued tracing around the room.

Janet's pigtails drooped a bit at Sam's lack of response. Sitting on the bed, Janet squinted her eyes as she tried to come up with something else to say to him.

"I heard there are mirror people living in the city," She said. Sam froze and he grimaced before turning to stare at Janet.

"And how do you know about this?" He asked through gritted teeth. "Oh, my parents talk about it, Brenda talks about it…." Janet said but paused for a bit as she tried to remember somebody else to mentioned it.

"Brenda talks bull, you don't need to trust her," Sam said, crawling onto the bed. "Yeah, but she's one of the few people to notice me at school," Janet mentioned, and she hung her head down.

Sam groaned, irritated." Please don't tell me you're one of those over-emotional, whiney, depressed, sob-buckets in movies my sisters show me way too often," He pleaded. "Because I'm injured enough after getting hit by a truck."

Janet raised her head. "Oh no, I'm just fine," She said, and smiled.

"Seriously, what were you guys doing on the road like that?" Sam asked. "You nearly got yourself, and more importantly, me, atomized."

Janet shifted a little closer to Sam. "Well, we were going home after being left at school," She explained. "But on the way, David saw this girl who was glowing blue and-"

"Girl who was glowing blue?!" Sam shouted unexpectedly, and in an instant, Janet found herself slammed on the ground, Sam's hands wrapped around her neck

"What did you see?!" He demanded angrily. "Did you see her face and how she looked like! If you did, I will personally throw YOU into the path of a truck!" He tightened the grip on her neck.

"What are you talking about?" Janet asked fearfully, a beat of sweat dripping down her forehead. "I barely even saw her when I got struck in the head and fell unconscious!"

Sam glared down at her, appearing not to believe her, but then he raised his eyebrow as if he was considering if she was telling the truth. The grip on her neck loosened, and Sam collapsed next to her, groaning in pain. It was clear the effects of the truck collision hadn't worn off.

Janet sat up and struggled to regain her breath. As she did, David opened the door.

"Uh, what just happened?" He asked as he noticed the half-conscious Sam and Janet with deep marks on her throat.

"Uh, me and him just hit a few rough edges," She said, coughing a bit. "But who knew a kid like him could be so strong."

Before David could respond, Brenda kicked the door open, startling the siblings. "Oh, there you are Little Jane," She said joyfully.

"Not you, get out!" David shouted, and he grabbed Brenda by the arm and forcibly dragged her out of the room.

The moment they were gone, Janet stared down at the still half-conscious Sam and sighed to herself.

"Why does every attempt to befriend someone end like this?" She asked no one in particular.

…..

"What is your problem?" Brenda asked David back in his room. "Can people not say hello in the Barret household?"

"One, you didn't say hello, and two, I thought I told you I didn't want you talking to my sister!" David reminded.

"You're too literal," Brenda snapped. "And besides, you can't control who she can or cannot be friends with. You're not his dad, though he's probably not any better."

"Oh, I'm not controlling her choice in friends, I'm just steering her in the path of the _right _friends, and you are not friend material for her!" David shouted, jabbing a finger into her shoulder.

Brenda responded by roughly pushing him onto his bed. "And you're not brother material for her!" She shot back. "I haven't seen a more pathetic excuse for an older sibling ever!"

"Take that back!" David shouted furiously.

"You're an imbecile of a brother-"

"Stop it!"

"You're too over-bearing-"

"Shut up!"

"And it's no wonder that Janet's has such low self-esteem!"

That was the last straw. David clenched his fist, drew back his arm, and clocked Brenda right in the nose, sending her stumbling out of the room.

"So much for a play date," She hissed as she held her bloody nose, and she lunged at David like a hungry leopard.

…..

"Oh, I am going to strangle those Collins," Mr. Barret growled as he and his wife sat at the kitchen table with Brenda's parents.

"Hey, Felix, calm your balls!" Mary said, grinning maliciously. "Oh wait a minute, you don't have any!" She and Bob broke out into laughter. Felix Barret narrowed his eyes.

"G-Get it, Agatha, you're husband has no balls!" Bob said as if it were a joke. He and Mary continued cackling, slamming their hands on the table and hooting with laughter. Felix's eye twitched and Agatha pursed her lips.

"Don't worry, honey, it's our kids getting along that counts," Agatha whispered through gritted teeth. Just then, the two couples heard a crash upstairs, followed by sounds of David and Brenda screamed.

"What the hell was that?" Mary asked as she, Felix, Agatha and Bob got out of their chairs and ran towards the stairs.

The moment they got there, they saw David and Brenda tumbling down the stairs, locked in battle. David landed on top of Brenda and began throttling her while Brenda repeatedly smacked his face.

"David, cut it out!" Felix ordered, but he kept throttling Brenda. "Brenda, what are you doing?" Bob asked. The two kids continued fighting.

Agatha grabbed David and tore him off of Brenda, who was hoisted into the air by Bob and Mary. Brenda had a bloody nose while David had a black eye.

"What has gotten into you two!" Agatha demanded, gripping David's arm. "She said I'm a bad brother," David accused. "Brenda, what is wrong with you?!" Agatha shouted.

"Hey, you can't yell at my daughter!" Bob shouted. "Only me and my wife can yell at my daughter!"

"Mom, dad, what's going on here?" Janet asked from upstairs. She slowly walked down the stairs, her hand on the railing.

"That bastard attacked my daughter!" Mary shouted, pointing a finger at David. "Oh, my son is a bastard, huh?" Agatha hissed. "Well Brenda's a little twit who probably started it!"

"Hey, both kids are to blame here!" Bob said. "No, it's only Brenda, who obese tub!" Felix shouted, aiming a finger at Bob.

Screaming and arguing started to break out between the parents as insults were hurled in every direction. The arguing would have clearly ended in violence had Janet not spoken up.

"Mommy, daddy, didn't the Collins come for a play-date?" She reminded. The parents stopped arguing for a bit and stared at each other.

"Well David started it," Brenda muttered. "No, you did, you trout!" David shouted, and suddenly, the arguing started all over again. Janet face palmed.

At this point, Sam had left the room had saw the Barrets and the Collins arguing. He rolled his eyes, stunned at the immaturity of the two bickering family, but then his eyebrow raised as he got an idea.

"Wait a minute, if they're so engrossed in arguing, then they won't notice me leaving," He whispered to himself. With that, he sprinted down the stairs and right past Janet.

"S-Sam, what are you doing?" She asked. "Sorry, wacky, but I am out of here," Sam said, and he opened the door and took off outside.

"Wait, it's dangerous alone in the night!" Janet shouted, and without thinking, she took off towards the door, swung it open, and ran off outside after him.

"Hey, Janet, you know it's Brenda's fault, right?" David said, oblivious to her leaving. At that moment, he realized she was gone.

"J-Janet?" He whispered, and his parents stopped arguing, followed by the Collins. David then saw the open door.

"Oh my gosh," David whispered. "He bolted through the door and on the driveway. "Janet, where are you?!"

No answer.

"Janet, please come home!" He shouted out. But it was no use.

Sam and Janet had both vanished.


	9. The Alley

"This is all your fault!" Mary shouted at Agatha. "My fault?" Agatha gasped in disbelief. "MY FAULT?! My daughter has gone missing and you're going around blaming me?"

"Well she's your daughter so technically she's your responsibility, so yeah, it is kind of your fault," Bob said, standing as tall as he could in an attempt to look dignified.

"Hey, your daughter started this fight which distracted us from Janet running off," Felix said, "So it is actually YOUR fault."

"Oh yeah, go and blame the fat dude," Bob shot back, offended. "While meanwhile, your daughter is out in the dangerous city alone at night where she could potentially killed, abducted, or assaulted."

"Don't you dare even put those images in my head!" Agatha screamed. "However, I guess you would like to image that, wouldn't you?"

"W-What?" Bob asked. "Did you just imply that I like imagining kids getting killed, abducted and assaulted?"

"Oh, that's exactly what I'm implying," Agatha said. "How else do you think Brenda ended up the way she's like?"

Bob and Mary gasped in shock at the notion. "You're one to talk!" Mary shouted. "David's a cynic and Janet's a doormat! That doesn't seem like signs of good parenting!"

"Well Brenda's personality is worse!" Felix shouted. "She's-"

"Um, parents," David interrupted. "Shouldn't we be, I don't know, looking for Janet."

"In a moment son, we have deal with these hypocrites at the moment," Felix said, and he then turned towards Bob to continue the argument.

David groaned in dismay while Brenda face palmed. Brenda then whipped out a cell phone and started dialling in a number.

"What are you doing?" David asked. "I'm calling the police," Brenda said. "They should be able to deal with this."

David briefly smiled in relief until Brenda added, "Oh, and when this is all over, I'm going to be there to tell your sister what an idiot she is to leave her home so late."

David narrowed his eyes at Brenda before attempting to leave through the door. However, Agatha chose that instant to decide to see what David was doing and grabbed his arm.

"Oh, come on!" David protested. "I need to find my sister."

"No, David, you are not leaving our sight," Agatha said. "We are going to find her together!"

"Speaking of leaving your sight, we are out of here!" Bob said. "Come on Mary and Brenda, let's get out of here." He took Mary and Brenda by the arm and dragged them out of the house.

"Nice afternoon," Agatha said sarcastically. "Now, come on, let's go find our daughter." With that, the three left the house and went towards the car on the driveway.

…..

Janet wandered through the empty streets of Crystal City, shivering in the cold. It was raining lightly, and there was nobody else in sight at the moment.

"S-Sam?" Janet called out. She was met with silence. "Come on, you n-need to come back," She called out again. The only noise was the padding of rain on the ground.

Janet shivered. "Maybe I should just go back home," She whispered quietly to himself. However, as she glanced up, she saw a familiar figure walking on the street.

It was Sam.

"Sam, it's me!" Janet shouted. Sam spun around in disbelief, then he face palmed once he saw who it was.

"Janet, what are you doing here?!" Sam asked, frustrated. "You weren't supposed to follow me!"

"I couldn't just let you go by yourself, you being injured and all," Janet explained. "So I followed you here. You need to come back."

"Look, I'm more resilient to injuries than you," Sam said. "I'm totally okay." As if on cue, Sam then groaned in pain and rubbed his head.

"No, you're not," Janet reasoned. "You're hurt, and it's night time. It's dangerous in the night."

"If that's true," Sam said, turning around to leave. "Then why are you, an eight-year-old girl, out here?" With that, he vanished into a dark alley.

"Sam, please come back!" Janet shouted, exasperated. She raced off in the direction Sam had disappeared to. She stopped at a dark alley where Sam had been gone.

"Sam, where are you?" She asked. There appeared to be no trace of him.

A chill ran up Janet's spine. She had been told stories by her parents of people who had went into dark alleys and then disappeared, never to be found. David had rationalized it a just their parents trying to scare her, but now, she felt she was in genuine danger.

As she was about to find out soon, the danger was very, very genuine.

As Janet was about to back out of the alley, a trash can tipped over. "Sam?" Janet said hopefully, but then gasped at what she saw.

A large, black Doberman pinscher was standing behind the knocked over trash can. It stood nearly as tall as Janet, and his eyes were beat red. It was breathing heavily, and it's large canine teeth were visible.

As Janet looked closer, she saw that foam was pouring out of the dog's mouth.

The dog had rabies.

The Doberman growled furiously and started to advance towards the small girl, its claws scraping the ground. Janet backed away slowly.

"Um, help?" Janet whispered, hoping that some could hear her. The dog barked loudly and picked up speed. "Help, somebody!" Janet shouted as she backed away faster.

The dog raced forward, barking and snapping its jaws. Janet screamed and kicked a trashcan at the dog to distract it. The dog jumped back and Janet took the opportunity to run out of the alley.

However, the dog recovered quickly and raced out of the alley and sprinted after Janet, snapping its jaws crazily. Janet screamed out in a futile attempt to get help, but it was useless. Nobody heard her.

The dog briefly grabbed the back of Janet's shirt, but Janet twisted around, kicking the dog in the snout. The dog stumbled backwards and tore a hole in Janet's shirt.

Janet resumed running and raced to the door of a random house. Bashing her fists on the door, Janet shouted, "Please, help me! Oh please, help me!"

She twisted her head around to see the dog slowly advancing towards her and started thrashing her fists on the door more violently and started screaming even louder.

"HELP ME!" She screamed. However, the Doberman leapt towards her, knocking her on the pavement. Janet bashed her fists on the dog's snout as it started to drag her by her shirt towards the alley.

The moment they were in the alley, the dog tossed Janet into a wall. Janet's elbow smashed into the wall violently, and she screamed as she felt her right arm bend unevenly.

The dog hissed and surged forward as Janet collapsed on the ground, clutching her arm in agony. She struggled to pick herself up, but the pain in her right arm kept her from getting up. As she clutched her arm, she realized in horror that her arm had been broken from the collision in the wall.

The Doberman howled and tackled Janet.

"Someone, help me!" Janet screamed as she struggled to hold off the Doberman.

…..

Sam slowly trekked out from the city and into the surrounding forest. As he walked into the forest, he couldn't help but feel a pang of guilt.

_I shouldn't of left Janet alone in the forest, _He thought. _She said it herself the city was dangerous at night. _

He stopped just a few feet from the forest. _And she doesn't have the same powers as me so she wouldn't be able to defend herself if-_

He heard Janet scream from the alley. "Janet?" He whispered in shock. He heard the scream continue, along with the sounds of a dog barking.

"Oh no, Janet!" Sam shouted, and he turned around and bolted back towards the city. As he heard the screaming continue, he jumped up and started hovering in the air and flew towards the sounds of the screams.

Flying up onto the roof of a building next to the alley, he looked down to see Janet being mauled by the Doberman.

The dog bit onto Janet's left arm and hung on tight. Janet kicked the dog in the leg in an attempt to get it off of her, but the dog continued to hang onto her arm.

Janet's eyes started to close as she began to lose energy. _Soon, I'll be unconscious, and then, it'll all be over, _She thought. _It'll all be over…._

"Hey, you!"

The dog let go of Janet's arm and looked up to see Sam standing at the trance to the alley. His hands were balled into fists, and he had a determined expression on his face.

"Come and fight me!" Sam challenged. "Sam, what are you doing here?!" Janet asked, horrified. "It will just kill you, too!"

The dog barked and charged forward, but Sam didn't falter. As the dog pounced, Sam side-stepped and dodged it. The dog spun around and snapped at Sam, but Sam swung his fist, striking the dog across the face, sending the dog flying into the wall.

Janet gasped in shock at his strength. No way could a little boy like him manage to knock that dog so far.

The dog recovered from the attack and glared at Sam, foam pouring from its jaws. It barked, and Sam took a fighting stance.

The dog howled and leapt towards Sam, and the boy drew his fist back. Then, as Janet watched in amazement, Sam's fist transformed into a bright blue blade.

Sam breathed heavily and stabbed the blade forward, piercing the dog in the stomach. Sam and Janet heard the dog yelp in pain, and it then collapsed on the ground, dead.

Sam analyzed the dead dog for a moment then rushed to Janet's side. She was one the ground, unconscious, both arms bloodied.

Sam picked her up and listened for a heartbeat. She was still alive, but she had lost some blood.

As Sam prepared to get Janet somewhere for help, a light flashed in his face. Sam turned to see two policemen in the alley, and several police cars driving up.

The first policeman flashed a light on the dead Doberman, then on the two children. The police didn't say a word, but walked forward, and Sam realized in dismay that he wouldn't be getting home anytime soon.


	10. The Hospital

Izzy and Brenda strolled down the sidewalk. Brenda was dressed in her regular clothing while Izzy was wearing a black jacket. It was raining, and Izzy was holding an umbrella to cover herself, leaving Brenda out in the rain.

"You think I'm going to get praise for calling the police that rescued Janet?" Brenda asked, spreading her arms out like a bird.

"The police rescued Janet?" Izzy asked, shrugging. "Brenda, you know it wasn't the police that extricated her from that dog. It was someone else."

"Well, who could it have been?" Brenda asked. "How should I know?" Izzy asked, pulling the umbrella closer over her head. "When I arrived there, they just explained that they discovered an unconscious Janet, the deceased dog, and some child who's name hasn't been revealed yet."

"Yeah, why were you out from your house?" Brenda asked. "Um, I wanted to pick up a Hershey bar," Izzy replied. Brenda splashed into a mud puddle, splashing some mud onto Izzy's jeans.

"Brenda, cut that out," Izzy demanded. Suddenly, a car drove by, splashing the whole puddle on both girls. "My jacket!" Izzy shouted as Brenda blew a raspberry at the drivers of the car.

Inside the car, David hugged himself, shivering nervously. During the drive to find Janet, they had received a call explaining what had happened. It had deeply troubled the family.

"Hey, there's the hospital Janet's at," Felix said, pointing at the massive hospital. The car stopped at the sidewalk and the three got out. Izzy and Brenda happened to walk past.

"What are you too doing here?" David asked, irritated.

"Relax, kid, we're just visiting your hospitalized sister," Izzy said. Before David could respond, the two scurried into the hospital. The three then noticed a bunch of other kids and adults entering the hospital as well.

"Yeesh, has my sister getting attacked by a dog really become so famous?" David pondered to himself as he and his parents pushed past the crowd and entered the house.

…..

"Would you like some hot chocolate, Ms. Barret?" A young girl asked Janet, who was lying in bed. She was the nurse's assistant, and had strawberry hair and henna-coloured eyes.

"Yes, I'd like that a lot," Janet nodded. The girl left.

Watching from behind a corner, Sam sighed, exasperated. He had been called to the hospital to be questioned, having been the nearest at the alley during Janet's attack from the Doberman, and he was being allowed to roam the hospital for a few minutes, but forbidden from leaving until his questioning was over.

"How did I get myself into this mess?" He asked himself repeatedly.

At that moment, the door burst open and several kids poured into the room, passing by Sam. Izzy and Brenda were the first to arrive, and Brenda glanced at Sam for a bit before ignoring him. Sam sighed with relief until David appeared.

"There you were," He said. "Where were you? Are you the reason why Janet left? Why did you leave when you were still injured from the truck?"

Sam rolled his eyes. "It is no concern of mine where I was during the time Janet was attacked by that rabid Doberman," He claimed.

"Wait, how do you know she was attacked by a Doberman?" David asked. Sam gulped and then took off before David could say another word.

"That's odd," David said before shrugging and turning to his sister, who was being crowded around by the other children.

"Hey, move over!" David shouted, shoving his way past the other kids. "Get out of here! I'm her brother so I get to talk to her!"

The other kids backed away as David took a seat next to Janet. "So, little sister, I see you have a new arm cast," He said, motioning to the pink cast on her right arm.

"Yeah, I broke my arm real good," Janet said, surprisingly cheerful after having been bitten by a rabid dog, breaking her arm, and being hospitalized.

"Would any of you like to write your signatures on it?" Janet asked the other kids. Izzy shrugged and took out a blue pen, scribbling her name on the cast in cursive. Brenda followed, taking out a pencil and writing her first name down.

As the other kids followed, David asked, "So, Janet, what were you doing out in the city alone?"

"Sam left while you were fighting with the Collins, so I followed him because he would probably get hurt," Janet explained. "Then I went into a dark alley, and met a mean dog that bit me and broke my arm, which is my it's in a cast."

"Well, how did you live?" David asked. "I was told it was a Doberman, and those things are very deadly."

"Sam saved me," Janet said. The other kids stopped writing on Janet's cast. Izzy stared at Janet, confused.

"Who's Sam?" Brenda asked after a while. "None of your freaking business!" David shouted, startling her. He then turned back to Janet and asked, "How did he do that?"

"His hand turned into a blade, and he ran the dog through," Janet explained. A boy sipping on a juice box spit out the drink. Brenda's jaw hit the floor. Izzy raised her eyebrow and rubbed her forehead as she struggled to comprehend what had been said.

"Um, do you think that rabies virus hasn't already messed with her brain?" Brenda asked.

By then, the nurse had arrived. "No, we gave her the rabies shots immediately, so she should be okay," She announced. David sighed with relief before Janet's words entered his mind.

"Um, if you excuse me, I'm going somewhere," He said and scooted out of the room.

"Eh, good riddance," Brenda called out.

…..

"So, what exactly happened?" A police officer asked Sam in an empty room of the hospital.

"I told you, the dog was attacking Janet," Sam said. "We know about that," The officer replied. "You just didn't tell us what happened afterwards."

"Well, I rushed to defend her of course, but the dog went after me and…" Sam trailed off.

"And what?" A second officer asked.

"…And the dog died of the virus before he could bite me, just like that," Sam lied. "That does sound kind of believable, except for one thing, "The officer responded.

"And what would that be?" Sam asked. "The dog had a stab wound which is confirmed to be the most likely cause of its demise," The officer explained.

Sam gulped and told another lie. "Yeah, well, I was holding a glass of water at the time, and when the dog pounced, I dropped the glass and it shattered, and a shard pierced the dog and THEN it died of the virus," He said.

"The stab wound was way bigger than any shard of glass could cause," The officer said.

Sam bit his lower lip nervously. He was running out of explanations. He was just about to give up and explain what really happened when the door was kicked open to reveal David.

"I need to talk to this kid for a moment," David said, "But we're in the middle of an investigation," The officer said.

"You are investigating an eight year old boy?" David said. "Shame on you, piling him with questions and traumatizing him! How dare you! He's just a boy!"

The two officers raised their hands up in defence and backed out of the room slowly. The moment they were gone, David sat down on the chair of one of the officer's.

"T-thanks for saving me," Sam grumbled. "Oh, you're not out of here yet," David said. "You are going to explain how you killed that Doberman and why Janet said you turned your hand into blade.

Sam sighed. "She's delusional," He said simply. "She was suffering from the virus and her broken arm and saw what she wanted to see."

"Okay, then, so I guess you can explain how the dog died?" David said. "From the virus," Sam said confidently. "And what about the stab wound?" David asked. "A shard of glass," Sam answered.

"You weren't holding a shard of glass when you left the house," David said. "And from what Janet said, you stabbed the dog. But you couldn't just smash the glass without getting pricked yourself."

Sam groaned. "Okay, okay, I'll explain," He said. "Janet was attacked by the Doberman, and I came, and using my awesome strength, I punched that dog in the face, and it went flying into a window, crashed on the ground, and the glass shards from the window fell down and stabbed into the dog. There, done, end of story."

David inhaled deeply. "Wow, Sam, that was a very thought out and detailed explanation," He said before adding. "That was totally made-up."

The two boys glared at each other for a moment before Sam said, "You know what, I am not under investigation from the likes of you. I am out of here." With that, he got up and took off out of the room.

David snorted and left the room to follow him. However, down the hallway, he noticed Janet and the other kids watching something.

Sprinting down the hallway, he saw that a television screen was on a stand, with _Fright Night _playing on the screen.

"Hi, David," Janet said. "Brenda suggested we watch a horror movie to keep me awake."

"I still think we should of watched a G-rated picture," Izzy said, hiding under the covers. David rolled his eyes. Izzy had a fear of ghosts and monsters, a phobia he could not understand.

"Do you want to watch the movie?" Janet asked. David considered it, but heard talking coming from above. "Um, in a moment," He said and took off down the hallways. He recognized that voice. It was Sam's.

He hurried up the stairs. Sam was clearly talking to somebody, but he could not hear the other voice.

"Why did you do it?" He heard the other voice said. "You said it yourself that you didn't like her, why did you save her?"

David reached the top of the stairs and pressed his ear against the door. He noticed that the other voice sounded a lot like Sam.

"I don't know, I guess I just felt compelled to do it," He heard Sam say. He sounded guilty and depressed.

"Mirror Bella wouldn't like it, you know," He heard the other voice say. The voice sounded so much like Sam that David came to the conclusion that Sam was just talking to himself.

David didn't really have much decency to knock on the door, so he instead swung it open to see what was happening. And what he saw amazed him.

Sam was talking to his reflection on the wall. Except the reflection didn't look natural. It resembled Sam, but had light blue skin and glowing blue hair and eyes. The reflection was wearing a blue shirt with a star on it, contrasting Sam's black and blue clothing.

Then the reflection pointed past Sam and at David. Slowly, Sam turned around and his eyes met David's. The two stared at each other in shock.

"Oh, hi David," Sam mumbled. "I, um, didn't see you there."

"Oh my gosh," David whispered in disbelief. "My parents, they were…right. you're a…_mirror person_."


	11. The Guest

"Son, so you are telling me that we were right about that kid being a mirror person?" Felix asked as he drove back to their house, along with Agatha, David and Sam.

"Yes, you were right," David grumbled, disappointed at having been proven wrong about mirror people being a myth.

"Wow, I can't believe this," Agatha said, joyful. "We finally got our son to see things from our point of view."

"Yeah, you here that, son, you were actually wrong about something," Felix taunted. David groaned in embarrassment. In spite of this, he folded his arms and raised his head high in an attempt to look dignified.

"So, can you drop me off back in the forest now?" Sam asked hopefully. Felix shook his head.

"Oh, come on, guys, do we really have to do this?" Sam asked, exasperated. "I just saved your daughter's life and you're still holding me hostage?"

"We're not holding you hostage, we're doing it for your own safety," Felix claimed. "How does that work?" Sam asked. "What do I have to be afraid of, except for you?"

"Well, there's the obvious, like criminals and wild animals lurking about," Agatha mentioned. "I killed a Doberman like it was a flea," Sam reminded. "I don't think I have to fear from it."

"On the other hand, now that little Janet has told the other kids that you have super powers, they're bound to start trying to find some proof about it," David said. "Especially Brenda and Izzy."

Sam groaned in annoyance. "Like I care about what Brenda thinks," He said. "She's too much of an idiot to do anything, even if she did find out I'm a mirror person."

"She's a crafty idiot," David said. "And besides, what about Izzy?"

Sam shrugged, but didn't give an answer. The car parked in the Barret's driveway, and the four got out.

"What a day, huh?" Felix mumbled as the family, along with Sam, walked over to the door. "Our kids have gone through their first day of school, we find a mirror person, Janet's hospitalized, what more could possibly happen?"

"A lot, if you really think about it," Agatha said as she swung the door open and walked inside.

"Now, David, you make our sort-of guest comfortable in this house during his stay," Felix commanded. David rolled his eyes and hauled Sam up the stairs to his room.

"You know, you didn't answer my question about Izzy," David said as he pushed Sam into his room. Sam rolled his eyes and plopped down on David's bed.

"She's okay, and she doesn't concern me like Brenda," Sam answered half-heartedly.

"Doesn't concern you?" David asked. "She's the most obnoxious person in school, even more than Brenda."

"Not everyone is as they seem, you know," Sam mumbled under his breath. "What did you say?" David asked. "Oh, nothing," Sam lied.

"Speaking of that, revert to your true form," David demanded. At that point, Sam was still in his disguise, with blonde hair, green eyes, and the pale complexion.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Sam lied once more. "Quit playing around, you know exactly what I'm talking about!" David shouted, causing Sam's eyes to pop open in surprise.

"Alright, geez," Sam said, and his hair turned red, his skin turned terracottas, and his eyes turned light blue.

"That's not your true form," David hissed. Sam sighed and this time, his skin turned peach, his hair Venetian blonde, and his eyes hazel.

"Stop doing that!" David shouted. Now, Sam turned pink-skinned, his eyes green, and his hair light brown.

"Hey, those are my colours!" David shouted. "I was hoping you wouldn't notice," Sam mumbled. David glared at him, clearly losing patience, and Sam finally let in and transformed to his true form. His skin darkened, his eyes turned glowing blue, and his hair turned black with the mystic blue streak in it.

"There, are you happy?" The recently-transformed Sam asked. "That's more like it," David said, folding his arms.

David stared at the streak in his hair. "Why do you have that streak?" He asked. "I guess all mirror people have part of their hair blue," Sam said. "Or at least, that's what my sister told me."

"So, you have a sister," David clarified. "Two, actually, in a sense," Sam confessed. "And one brother."

"That reflection I saw, is that him?" David asked. Sam sighed and nodded.

"So, you're other sister is a reflection of your real sister," David concluded. "I like to think of both of them as my sister," Sam said.

"Do I know your sister?" David asked. "I'm not explaining anything else for the night, okay," Sam said, narrowing his eyes.

"Okay, okay, just asking," David mumbled.

Sam huffed and got into bed. "Hey, that's my bed," David said. "So what?" Sam asked, yawning as he rested on his pillow.

"You've been living in a forest, I don't want your germs or whatever all over my nice bed," David said, piqued.

Sam just shrugged before closing his eyes. "Hey, don't you ignore me!" David snapped. Sam's eyes fluttered open and he turned his head to David.

"Just go to bed," Sam said. "I can't, you just took it," David reminded. "Then go to sleep," Sam grumbled and his eyes closed again.

"But where?" David asked.

...

"Worst night ever," David grumbled as he lay on the floor with the lights shut off. The only sound was Sam's incredibly loud snoring.

David covered his ears to block out Sam's snoring, but it was no use.

"Can this week get any worse?" David grumbled to himself.


	12. Tuesday

David's alarm-clock rang, causing the boy to jump up from the floor.

"Almost forgot it was school," He mumbled, rubbing his eyes and yawning. He slammed his fist on the clock, shutting it off.

Throwing off his bed clothes and putting on a simple red t-shirt and green shorts, David noticed that the bed Sam had been sleeping in last night was empty. The bed covers were lying on the floor and the pillows had dry drool on it.

David groaned in annoyance. "I wonder if he went back to his home in the forest," He said, hopefully. Alas, he heard thudding coming from downstairs and the sound of glass and objects being moved around.

With a sigh, David trudged through the already-open door and down the stairs. He could hear Sam humming from downstairs.

After David reached the bottom of the stairs, he entered the kitchen room to see Sam floating off the ground in front of an open cupboard. David noticed that he was rearranging the several cups in the board.

"What are you doing?" He asked. "Organizing the cups," Sam replied without bothering to turn and acknowledge the other boy. "I'm putting the black and blue cups on the right and the less-important cups on the left."

"Is that really necessary?" David asked. "Well, at my house, my sister put the black cups on the right and the blue on the left, but since this house has these dainty white ones, I feel compelled to change the arrangements a bit," Sam responded.

David grumbled. "You know, if you're going to stay here, then-"

David stopped short when he suddenly realized something about Sam's clothing.

"You're wearing my clothes!" David shouted. Sam was wearing David's black shirt with the picture of a baseball player on the front, as well as one of David's regular blue jeans. They were clearly too big for him, though, but Sam didn't seem to notice.

"I would've picked Janet's clothes because they fit me, but they're mainly pink and purple, and I don't do those clothes.," Sam said.

"Because they're too girly?" David asked. "Not really," Sam replied. "I also don't do green, yellow, orange, cyan, magenta, or brown."

"You must not have a lot of clothes then," David smirked. "Listen, Davey Jones, the only colours I dress in are black, blue, and sometimes red," Sam snapped, finally turning around to face him.

"Well, black is actually a shade, not a colour," David corrected. Sam stared at him with a blank expression. "What the dimension did you just say?" He asked.

David shrugged. Before the two could say anything else, their parents arrived.

"Oh, I see you're ready to go to school," Agatha said, smiling. David spun around. "No I'm not!" He shouted. "I hate school! It's terrible! I nearly went insane last time!"

"Oh, come on, it's only seven hours long," Felix said. "That's the problem, it's seven hours TOO LONG!" David screamed.

"What a drama queen," Sam whispered, rolling his eyes while still hovering a few feet off the ground.

"David, I'm sure you can handle four more days of school for the week," Agatha said, and she grabbed David by the collar. "And I don't want your teacher waiting for you." With that, she dragged David kicking and screaming towards the door.

"Am I going to school?" Sam asked hopefully. "Not a chance," Felix stated. "You're staying here so me and honey can see all your powers."

Sam's eye twitched. "So that's what I'm here for, a bloody experiment," He growled. "Not really, we'll let you go when we see all you powers," Felix said, grinning innocently.

Sam narrowed his eyes. "Like that's any better," He said through gritted teeth.

…..

David and Agatha drove up to the Crystal City Independent School District. "Now, behave son," Agatha said as she pulled David out of the car and towards the school.

The other children were already pouring into the school. David would've used the opportunity to take off running, but he glanced towards his mother. She was staring down at him with a look that told him not to try anything funny. So, David reluctantly followed the other children inside.

The school seemed more crowded than usual. He noticed several children he hadn't seen before entering his classroom. Izzy was in the front, but he couldn't see Brenda.

David followed the children inside. He could recognize several kids in his class from yesterday, including a small brunette girl, a diminutive boy with glasses, and off course, Izzy.

With a sigh, David sat down in front of Izzy. The teacher, oddly enough, hadn't arrived yet, so the kids were making small talk with each other. David kept quiet, hoping not to attract any attention from the other children, least of all Izzy.

Too bad for him, this wouldn't be the case. An Indian boy turned around and said, "Hello, David."

David wasn't one to be very polite with kids he didn't know very well. "Screw you!" David shouted, startling several kids. "You think I was talking to you?!"

"Okay, okay," The boy mumbled. "Yeah, that's what I thought!" David hissed before turning away. Izzy immediately jabbed him with her ruler.

"Will you lay off?" He asked.

The older girl scooted closer towards him. "I hear whippersnappers with your attitude likely end up as criminals when they're older," She whispered in his ear with a smirk.

David shoved his hand in Izzy's face, pushing her away. "Like the same doesn't apply to you?" He asked. "You are five times as horribly, missy."

Izzy whacked him with her ruler. "Stop it!" David shouted. He then noticed that Brenda wasn't in the class. "Where's Ms. Collins?" He asked.

"She skipped school," Izzy replied bluntly. "Why'd she do that?" David asked. "I don't know, she said she wanted a word with someone, but she didn't say who?"

Before David could reply, Mrs. Worthington burst in. "Well class, are you ready to talk about the importance of the environment?" She asked.

David groaned. "At least Benda's not here," He mumbled.

…..

"Okay, I want you to levitate this hammer off the table," Felix ordered. Sam sighed. "I don't have telekinesis, Mr. Barret," He said. "Then how do you move things without touching them?" Felix asked.

"I have these…I don't know how to describe it," Sam mumbled. Deciding to show them instead of tell them, Sam's transparent hand shot out from his back, grabbed the hammer, and hoisted it up over Felix's head.

"Amazing!" Felix shouted as Sam dropped the hammer in the toolbox with his third hand. "How many of those do you have? A million? A quadrillion?"

"Just two," Sam mumbled. "Uh-huh," Felix said, obviously disappointed. "Well, I have a new test. Now I want you to-"

"Um, Felix, can I have a moment outside?" Sam asked. "I promise I won't run away."

Felix stared at him suspiciously, but then nodded. Instantly, Sam jumped up, flew towards the door, swung it open, and ran through.

"Man, that guy's a creep," Sam whispered. He hadn't even gotten on the driveway when he was shoved into a wall.

"Ow, what the heck?!" Sam shouted as he clutched his bruised arm. He glanced to whoever had pushed him and saw Brenda. She was wearing a red shirt and a black skirt, and her arms were folded across her chest.

"What is your problem?!" Sam shouted. Brenda shoved him into the wall again. "Don't get all cheeky on me!" She shouted. "There was something strange going on with Janet last night, and it had to do with you!"

"Look, I have no idea what you're-" Sam started but Brenda grabbed him by the throat and slammed him into the wall a third time.

"She said you turned your hand into a blade and stabbed that dog to death," Brenda hissed. "Almost like a mirror person. But I don't believe you're a mirror person!"

_That's a relief, _Sam thought to himself, but Brenda tightened the grip on his neck.

"You listen to me, boy!" She shouted. "I don't know what happened in that alley, but you definitely did not rescue Janet from that dog! You're much too pathetic to do that!"

Brenda finally let Sam go, and he crumpled to the ground, gasping for air.

"There are mirror people in this city, Woodstump!" Brenda snapped. "And I intend to find out who they are! And I am NOT letting you jeopardize my rookie investigation for them! UNDERSTAND ME?!"

Sam didn't answer. All he did was cough violently on the ground. Brenda snorted and got on her scooter and rode off the driveway and down the street, leaving Sam on the ground crying and hyperventilating.


	13. Friendship Commences

Sam lied on the ground, dizzy. He felt light-headed and his arm and head were bruised. His neck was aching and tears were streaming down his face as he breathed heavily.

He would have gotten up already, but the weight of humiliation had somehow kept him down. How could he have allowed Brenda to hurt him so easily? He's stronger than she is and he's gone through much worse than getting slammed into a wall.

Sighing, Sam slowly got to his feet, making an effort to ignore the pain in his head. Wiping the tears from his face, he pulled the door to the Barrets house open and limped inside.

"Oh, you're back-" Felix started until he saw Sam's bruised arm and neck. "What happened to you?" He asked.

"I, uh, well I…" Sam mumbled, thinking up an excuse. He didn't want to admit that Brenda had been responsible, so he eventually said, "I tripped and fell on the pavement."

"Really?" Felix asked. "That must have been one real fall then."

Sam nodded. "Yeah, I took a real hard…fall."

"Well, there's still that test I wanted you to do," Felix said, but Sam took off upstairs, covering his face in embarrassment. "Well, that was awkward," Felix said.

Sam swung the door open to David's room and crept inside, slamming the door shut. The moment he did so, a crack formed in the wall and door. Sam glanced up at the cracked wall and cringed before looking down at his hands, then back at the wall.

Walking backwards, he bumped into a bookshelf lightly. Instantly, the bookshelf toppled over and smashed into pieces, with several books flying all over the room.

Sam gasped and covered his face to shield himself from the splinters and books flying in his directions. Eventually, he just collapsed into a corner of the room.

He rubbed the bruise on his arm tenderly, then put a finger on his neck and then touched the bump on his head. And then, finally, he pulled up the sleeve of his arm to reveal an injury he had not received from Brenda.

It was a dim blue bruise on his shoulder. Sam stared at the old wound sadly, then pulled himself into a fetal position and let the tears stream down his cheeks.

…..

"Mom, are you sure I can't go to school?" Janet asked from the backseat of Agatha's care.

Agatha shook her head. "No way," She said. "You may have survived that dog attack thanks to Sam, but you are nowhere near in the right shape to go back to school due to your broken arm."

Janet sighed. "But I feel great!" She protested. "My arm may be in a cast but I can manage."

"No," Agatha refused. "Besides, that mirror child is at home, so you can play with him and spend the time studying his powers."

"Sam, his name is Sam," Janet corrected. "Whatever," Agatha said. "And besides, we're home, sweet home."

They parked into the driveway and instantly, Janet burst through the door with her left arm and skipped towards the door of the house, followed by Agatha.

"Dad, I'm finally home!" Janet shouted as he kicked open the door.

"Janet!" Felix said joyfully and embraced Janet. Agatha joined in with the group hug. "Where's David?" She asked.

"Still at school," Felix said. "It's 10:36 A.M."

"Oh, I lost track of time," Janet mumbled, a little embarrassed. "Well, where's Sam?"

"He fell on the pavement and is upstairs by now," Felix said. "You'd think he'd be more resilient to pain, though, since he is a mirror person."

"Dad, he's an eight year old boy," Janet reminded. "And I'm going to go see him." She released her parents and walked up the stairs.

"Um, Janet, are you sure you want to see him?" Felix asked. "He seemed to be in a bad mood when I saw him."

"If there's something I've seen in movies, it's that everyone has a good side to them," Janet said before sprinting upstairs.

"Um, Sam?" She asked. She couldn't hear anything. It was surprisingly quiet for a mirror person to be upstairs.

Janet took a guess as to which house he was in and opened the door to David's room. Her eyes widened in shock when she saw the huge mess and the giant bookshelf smashed into pieces.

"Sam, what did you do?" She asked. She couldn't see him. It was like he had vanished. However, he could hear breathing coming from the ceiling. Glancing upwards, Janet saw Sam, floating in a corner of the ceiling and pulled into a fetal position.

"Sam!" Janet said cheerfully. Sam opened his eyes and lifted his head a bit from over his knees, but upon seeing Janet, he turned his head away.

"I'm back from the hospital now," Janet said, hoping to get a response. Sam didn't bother to say a thing and instead floated towards another corner of the room.

"Sam, please talk to me," Janet said and ran over to Sam. Instantly, Sam's eyes popped open in surprise when he saw Janet race towards him and he quickly zipped to the left in an effort to avoid her.

"Wait, Sam, wait!" Janet shouted as she continued following him around the room. "I don't want to hurt you!"

She grabbed Sam's arm, causing him to stop. Slowly, she pulled him down onto the bed. Janet stared into Sam's eyes as he held his hand.

"I don't want to hurt you," She whispered. Sam narrowed his eyes and pulled his hand away. "Like someone without powers could actually hurt me," He said, trying to sound stoic. However, he covered his bruised arm.

"You sure seemed scared," Janet said. Sam sighed a bit. "What are you doing here?" He asked. "Are you here to study me because of my powers like your parents?"

"I guess they're intriguing," Janet admitted. Sam stood up on the bed. "Yeah, nothing I've heard before!" He shouted. "That's the only thing people think of me except for my siblings!"

"Sam, what are you talking about?" Janet asked.

"My sister tells me of people like you!" Sam exclaimed angrily. "How whenever someone is different, everyone hates them."

"That's not always true," Janet said. "But a lot of the time, they are!" Sam shouted. "My sister picks up movies and shows me them, and they have that premise. ParaNorman, boy and girl speak to the dead, the boy is hated by even his family, and the girl is murdered!"

"But didn't it say some people are good in the long run?" Janet said.

"Beauty and the Beast, some villagers follow some bozo and tries to kill the big furry dude, who at the end turns all handsome, proving that you can only have a happy ending if you're handsome!"

"I didn't find him that handsome…"

"Garbage Pail Kids, there's a freaking State Home For The Ugly!"

"That was a stupid movie, anyways," Janet said.

"And-"

"Sam, slow down," Janet ordered. Sam reluctantly quieted down.

"Those are movies," Janet explained. "That are based on real human reactions," Sam countered. "Well, Sam, they are based on real human reactions, and do you know what every movie you mentioned had in it?" Janet asked.

"A villain that the movie says is good-looking but really isn't?" Sam guessed.

"Well, yeah, but something else," Janet said. "In all of those movies, it that a person who befriended those odd-people-out despite their appearance or their gifts."

Sam stared at Janet, but then shuffled away. "And what should that mean?" He asked. "The bad people in all those movies always outnumbered the good."

"Well, maybe that's one error they had," Janet said, and then she noticed the bruise on his arm. "What happened there?"

"Br-somebody pushed me into a wall," Sam admitted. He didn't want to give the identity to avoid a confrontation between Janet and Brenda.

"Oh, well I know how to fix that," Janet said. She left the room briefly, and quickly returned with a band-aid.

"What's that supposed to be?" Sam asked.

"This is a band-aid," Janet explained. "It will protect the bruise."

"Thank you, but I don't think I need it," Sam said. Nevertheless, Janet placed the band-aid on Sam's bruised arm. Sam rubbed it a bit.

"Well, what do you think?" Janet asked.

"It, uh, it feels great," Sam admitted, smiling. He then noticed the several signatures on Janet's arm cast and got an idea.

Taking a blue marker from David's shelf, he wrote his own signature on the arm cast.

Samson Crystal.

Janet stared down at the signature on her cast. "Samson Crystal," She read. "I actually think that's a very nice name."

She smiled, and Sam did as well.


	14. After School

David was walking down the neighbourhood after school had ended. He was still feeling sore after spending the day being irritated by Izzy, but school was over for the day, so he found some joy in that.

"Hey, loser!" A voice called out. It was Izzy. She was on her roller-blades, and was skating around him. He noticed that Brenda was with her, too.

"Oh, come on, it's after school, can't I have some peace?" David complained.

"Our next play-date is in three days, Davey," Brenda reminded. "And since Little Jane got a sprain, I guess you could use something to occupy your short attention span."

"Janet didn't sprain herself, she broke her arm," David corrected. Izzy flicked him with her index finger. It stung more than a flick usually would, and it caused David to jump a bit.

"Don't get all smart on us," Izzy said. "You and Janet may act like you know so much about mirror people, but until you've actually found one, you're both still losers to me."

David clenched his knuckles. He wanted to punch Izzy so badly, but he was outnumbered by two, so he knew acting violent wasn't going to solve anything for him. So he just hurried away, hoping the two girls wouldn't follow him.

"Aw, are you going to cry, Davey?" Izzy called out, and she and Brenda laughed before skating off.

David finally reached his house. With a groan, he pulled the door open and walked inside.

"Hey son, how was school?" Agatha asked. David didn't even bother to acknowledge his parents and just gloomily walked up the stairs to his room.

As he did so, he heard talking coming from Janet's room.

"So, I can transform my hand into various objects," He heard Sam say. "Awesome!" He heard Janet reply.

Intrigued, David opened the door a bit and saw Sam and Janet sitting on the bed. Sam's hand was transformed into a sparkling blue mallet, and he swung it over his head a bit.

David raised his eyebrow in confusion as he continued to watch.

"Hey, do the blade!" Janet urged. "The one you used to kill that dog!"

"No problem," Sam said, and his hand transformed into a large blue blade. David's jaw hit the floor at the sight of it.

"It looks so sharp," Janet said and briefly poked the blade, then jumped a bit as she pricked her finger on it. "It IS sharp," She added as she held her finger.

"Yeah, I've sometimes cut myself practicing using it," Sam admitted, smiling in embarrassment. "Oh, this is my favourite one," He added, and his hand transformed to normal. He cupped both hands together, and a small blue flame appeared above it.

Janet jumped back in shock. David's eyes widened and he swung the door open, alerting Sam and Janet to his presence.

"What is that?!" David asked in horror.

"It's fire," Sam said, a little confused as to why David would ask such a ridiculous question.

"Well make it go away before you hurt somebody!" David demanded. "Okay, okay," Sam mumbled and he tossed the blue flame behind him. The ball of fire landed on one of Janet's Barbie dolls, which exploded instantly upon contact with the flame.

"Oh shoot, sorry about that!" Sam apologized as Janet and David stared at him.

"Oh, don't worry, I have about a dozen others," Janet replied. "Boy do you need a hobby," Sam mumbled. "What was that?" Janet asked. "Nothing," Sam lied.

"I told you to make it go away, not burn something with it," David berated.

"I would have, but my sisters haven't really taught me to control my powers that much," Sam confessed. "I can control the basics, like landing properly after flying or transforming my hand into objects and back, but other than that, I don't have that much of a clue."

"You'd think they'd worry a little more about controlling a walking death-machine," David mumbled.

"Hey, I may have the power to annihilate you in a second, but that does not make me a walking death-machine," Sam responded, irritated.

"Hey, maybe I could help control your powers," Janet offered. Sam and David glared at her.

"Um, Janet, you may be my friend now, but I doubt a human girl with little to no experience can actually help a mirror person control their powers," Sam scoffed.

"Yeah, for once I agree with Sam," David huffed.

"Well, I guess we'll see about that," Janet said, folding her arms. She then added, "Oh, and I'm skipping school tomorrow, so I'll have plenty of time to work on it."

"OH COME ON!" David shouted. "Does everyone get to skip school but me?!"

"Looks like it," Sam said. "Oh well, I bet you can handle three more days of school."

"No I can't!" David shouted. "With people like Izzy and Brenda in my class, I'd rather die than spend another three days there!" With that, he stomped out of the room, slamming the door behind him.

"Um, Sam," Janet said.

"Yes, Janet?" Sam asked.

"You said you had sisters?" Janet asked. Sam nodded.

"Do you think they're worried about you?" Janet asked.

Sam shrugged. "Oh them," He said. "Don't worry. They're my sisters. I'm sure they won't overreact about me being gone for a little while."

…..

Inside the concealed mirror, in a dimly lit room two figures were talking.

"Mirror Bella, don't you think you're overreacting to this a bit?" The first figure, resembling a small boy, said. He was met with a small shove.

"No, I'm not overreacting!" The other figure claimed, her eyes glowing a bright blue shade. "Those non-powered freaks of Crystal City have been getting on my nerves for years, and now they've gone and abducted Samson."

"Please, I'm sure Sam is fine," The first figure reassured. "He has powers, he can handle himself with them."

"I don't like it, not one bit," The second figure said, folding her arms. She then shouted, "Kizzy! Get over here this instant!"

The pale brunette entered the room. "Yes, Mirror Bella?" She asked.

"Go out to the neighbourhood and search out the houses," The figure ordered, her eyes sparkling blue. "Samson has got to be out there somewhere."

"Yes, Mirror Bella," Kizzy said, and she vanished into thin air.

"I'm not letting Samson get away from me," The figure snapped, and with a swish of her gown, she had disappeared as well.


	15. The Bulldog

It was Wednesday, and David had been quite literally dragged off to school once more. Janet was staying home with Sam due to her arm injury, leaving David to fend for himself at school.

"I can't believe my sister was lucky enough to stay at home," David grumbled to himself as he walked onto school property.

"Why couldn't I be attacked by a dog and have my arm broken?" He complained. "I mean, I've been the butt of a lot of unfortunate incidents, why not this one?"

He sighed and sat down on a rock. At that point, he noticed Izzy and Brenda passing by, talking about something. David wasn't usually one to eavesdrop on what other children were saying, least of all the most obnoxious kids at school, but he felt intrigued when he word what they were saying.

"Did you hear about Malady?" Brenda asked. "She said that last night, she was in her room, trying to sleep, when she thought she saw a glowing blue apparition passing around the bed."

David raised an eyebrow and he got off the rock and started following the girls to listen closely to what they were saying.

"Oh, Malady's always one to see things," Izzy said, rolling her eyes. "She probably just thought she saw her own shadow and freaked out."

"Her shadow was blue?" Brenda said. "It's possible," Izzy said.

David squinted his eyes a bit in confusion. The way the supposed apparition was described was beginning to bare similarity to the girl he found on the road two days earlier.

"And Jonathan, that kindergartener, he says he saw the same thing," Brenda claimed. "He was sleeping with his face under the bed covers and he saw a bright blue light resembling a girl in his room."

"Are we really supposed to take that kid seriously?" Izzy asked. "I mean, he's in kindergarten, they always see things."

"That sounds just like what me and Janet saw," David said. Unfortunately for him, Izzy heard that and spun around, noticing him.

"What are you staring at?!" She shouted, and David immediately turned his face away from her, whistling, before walking off, embarrassed.

Izzy then turned back to Brenda. "What I'm saying is, those kids shouldn't be taken seriously, Brenda."

Before Brenda could respond, a blonde girl wearing blue clothing butted in between the two girls.

"Hi guys," She said with a smile.

"Sorry, I keep forgetting your name," Brenda admitted. "I'm Lizzy, Izzy's best friend," The girl introduced.

Brenda glared at her. "No, I'm Izzy's best friend," She hissed, grabbing Izzy's arm. "No, I am," Lizzy insisted.

"Look, both of you are my friends, okay," Izzy said to avoid a full-blown confrontation. "Lizzy, why don't you find some fourth graders to pick on?"

"Sure thing," Lizzy said and skipped away. The moment she was gone, Brenda said, "That girls annoys me. But anyways, the apparitions."

"I thought I made it clear that we shouldn't think too much of it," Izzy said. "No really, it can't be a coincidence," Brenda insisted. "If two kids from the same neighbourhood saw the same thing, that means it's real."

"What are you suggesting?" Izzy asked. "Maybe they saw a mirror person," Brenda said.

"That's ridiculous," Izzy replied. "Mirror people wouldn't go and spy on people like that unless it was important. And that doesn't sound important."

"Well, this girl with pony-tails said something about mirror people," Brenda said. "And I think she knows more about them."

…..

"Sam, why are you leading me to this part of the neighbourhood?" Janet asked nervously as Sam held her hand, pulling her down the sidewalk.

"You were nearly killed by a dog, right?" Sam said. "You were there," Janet reminded. "Are you scared of dogs?" Sam asked. Janet nodded.

"Well, I think it's time for you to face your fear," Sam said. They stopped near the fence of a relatively big house. Inside the fence was a small black-and-white French bulldog, sitting on the grass.

"Sam, that dog scares me," Janet said. "Exactly, which is why I want you to face your fear," Sam said, dragging Janet towards the fence.

The bulldog got up, smelling the two children. It turned around and stared at them for a moment. As the two children neared, the dog let out a small bark, warning them not to get any closer.

Janet recoiled, but Sam held her hand and led her towards the fence. The bulldog began barking again, a little more frantic this time. Janet shook with fear.

"Nice and easy," Sam said as he and Janet began to walk past the fence. The bulldog ran up towards them, barking excitedly. At that point, Janet nearly bolted in the opposite direction, but Sam held onto her.

"No worries, we can do this," Sam said, and he and Janet walked past the fence. With each step, the bulldog pursued them from inside the fence, barking as it attempted to frighten them away.

Janet began squeezing Sam's hand in fear, but kept a steady stride with him. Eventually, the two had made it past the fence. From inside the fence, the bulldog huffed before turning around and walking off.

"Why did you put me through that?" Janet asked. "It could've bitten me or something."

"Actually, it couldn't have," Sam said. Janet raised an eyebrow.

"It may look dangerous, but it's inside a fence," Sam explained. "That's what separates us from it. It can't attack us because it's concealed inside."

"Yeah, but it's still scary," Janet mumbled. "Sometimes we fear things even if they can't do us harm," Sam explained. "My brother taught me that philosophy."

"He sounds pretty smart," Janet said. "You have no idea," Sam said. Then, Sam happened to glance up at the roof of a house and saw a cat sitting on it. It had black fur and blue eyes, and was staring at Sam. The cat beckoned its head to him and then disappeared from off the roof.

"Um, Janet, could you wait here for a moment, I need to attend to something," Sam said. Janet nodded and Sam raced off in the direction the cat had left.

The moment he was gone, Janet felt someone tap her on the shoulder. She spun around to see who it was.

"Brenda, what are you doing here?" She asked when she saw the girl skating around her on rollerblades. "Isn't it the middle of school?"

Brenda paused in front of the younger girl. "We need to talk," She said.


	16. Popular

Sam trekked down the sidewalk in the direction the cat had disappeared to. He saw the cat concealed behind a bush in the forest and raced over to the forest.

"Ballard, come out," Sam said. The black cat crawled out from the bush and rubbed its body against Sam's legs, purring, before sitting down in front of him.

"Ballard, what are you doing here?" Sam asked. Ballard purred slightly in response.

"Okay, I guess that was a pretty stupid question," Sam admitted. "But still, you're supposed to be in the mirror."

Ballard meowed as a reply.

"What do you mean I'm supposed to be in the mirror?" Sam said, acting like he'd forgotten that he'd been absent from the mirror for at least two days.

Ballard meowed and then purred.

"I was with the Barrets," Sam responded. "They seem like a nice family when they're not talking about my powers…"

Ballard hissed, causing Sam to back up a bit.

"Hey, I didn't intentionally reveal my powers to them…" Sam said nervously, rubbing the back of his head. "Janet just saw me using them and David saw me talking to Mirror Samson and…"

Ballard hissed once more.

"Hey, I want to go back home, but, well…" Sam trailed off. Ballard brought his head closer to Sam, waiting for an answer.

"I just want to stay with them!" Sam finished. Ballard rolled his blue eyes and meowed.

"I know it sounds lame, but I feel I need to help them," Sam confessed. "And that they could help me. I know it's only been about two days, but bare with me here."

Ballard shook his head in disappointment and purred.

"Fine, I don't care if you don't like it, just don't tell Bella or Mirror Bella," Sam ordered. "They'll explode if they find out about this."

Ballard scoffed and then slunk off into the forest and vanished without a trace. When he was certain the cat was gone, Sam bolted out of the forest and towards the fence where Janet was.

"Okay, Janet, I'm back and-" Sam paused when he saw that Janet wasn't there.

"Um, Janet?" He asked.

…..

"So, how's your big brother?" Brenda asked as she and Janet walked down the sidewalk of the city.

"Oh, he's okay," Janet replied. "I mean, he's not happy about going to school, but at least he didn't break his arm like I did."

"Yeah, I don't get why he doesn't like school," Brenda said. "It's one of the best places you could be, isn't it, Jane?"

"Wait, didn't you skip school?" Janet asked. "Well, sometimes school isn't important," Brenda replied casually.

The two girls entered a clothing shop. "You know, Janet, I've noticed that you don't have a lot of friends," Brenda said. "It's pretty sad, really."

"Oh, well it's not like that's a bad thing," Janet replied. Brenda picked out a few clothes.

"Oh, but it is a bad thing, Little Jane," Brenda responded without batting an eye. "What do you mean?" Janet asked nervously.

"You see, when you grow older, you find that friendship seems to be the glue holding society together," Brenda explained. "The more friends you have, the more popular you are."

"But what if popular isn't always the right thing?" Janet inquired. "Well, what is the right thing at the moment?" Brenda replied.

Janet didn't respond.

"You see, when you don't have friends, what does that say about you?" Brenda asked. Janet shrugged and shook her head.

"It means you're an outcast," She whispered in Janet's ear. Janet froze at the mention of it.

"When you have no friends, you're reduced to sitting in the dark corner behind all the other boys and girls," Brenda continued. "Nobody will notice you or like you."

"But I want to be liked," Janet said.

"And it will only get worse," Brenda said. "Then high school comes along, and popularity is the number one thing there. When you're not popular in high school, people will notice you."

"How is that worse?" Janet asked.

"They'll notice you by picking on you," Brenda said. "They'll tease you, write things on your locker, hit you…"

"No, I don't to get hit," Janet mumbled nervously.

"They'll get others to join in and make you miserable," Brenda said. Janet began biting her nails out of anxiety.

"And you'll have nobody to turn to," Brenda said. Janet sighed. "Well, how do I stop it?" She asked. "How do I get friends?"

"Oh, there's one way," Brenda said. "Try acting like the other kids."

Janet raised an eyebrow. "But my parents told me that you have to be unique," She said. "It's what makes you special."

Brenda shook her head. "Are you really going to listen to your parents your whole life?" She asked. "Are you a 'momma's girl'?"

"I am not a momma's girl!" Janet exclaimed, somewhat angry. "I don't have to listen to my parents to make up my mind."

Brenda smiled. "Very good, Little Jane," She said. "Well then, what do you suggest I do?" Janet asked.

"That's simple," Brenda said, holding up some fancy clothing. "Wear these."

Janet squinted her eyes. "Those things?" She asked. "What's so special about them?"

"It doesn't have to be special to be good," Brenda said. Janet shrugged and reached out to grab it, but Brenda held the clothes up in the air.

"Uh, uh, uh," Brenda said. "You owe me something,"

"What could I possibly owe you?" Janet asked. Brenda bent down and whispered in Janet's ear. Janet's eyes widened in shock.

"But, that's, uh…" Janet trailed off. "That's what?" Brenda asked. "Are you hiding something?"

"Definitely not," Janet lied. Brenda narrowed her eyes. "You're lying to me," She said. Janet shook her head.

"Oh, I know you're lying," Brenda said. "So, you're going to lie to the girl who wants to help you be popular?"

"No, I don't," Janet said uneasily.

"Well then, what are you waiting for?" Brenda asked. "You'll help me, and I'll help you. What's it going to be?"

Janet gulped. She suddenly realized how hard life was going to be.

…..

David had finally returned home after another tiresome day of school. He smiled as he swung the door open, only to be met with Sam pacing around the house.

"Um, where's Janet?" He asked. "I don't know," Sam said. "I told her to stay at the sidewalk while I went to do something, but when I came back, she was gone."

David narrowed his eyes.

"You brought my injured sister outside and left her like an old pair of shoes?" He questioned angrily. "What if she was kidnapped, or assaulted, or-"

"Hi guys," Janet said as she entered the house. David sighed with relief when he heard her familiar voice. However, his gladness turned to horror when he saw what she was wearing.

"What the-" David gasped. He then called out, "Mom! Dad! Get over here!"

Felix and Agatha came into the living room.

"What is it, son?" Agatha asked when she saw what Janet was wearing as well. "What the hell?" She asked. Felix covered his eyes as he saw what his daughter was wearing.

Janet was dressed in a rather big jacket and a very revealing shirt. She was wearing extremely short shorts that was a solid foot above her knees.

"Do you like them?" Janet asked cheerfully. "They were bought at the clothing shop."

David and his parents mouths hung open in shock, and then, in an instant, they all lunged at Janet and grabbed her shirt.

Soon, Janet's new clothes had been dumped in the garbage can and she was wearing her pink pyjamas. "Oh, come on, I didn't think they were that bad," Janet complained.

"Oh, they were bad!" Agatha snapped. "Those are something a teenager or something would wear!"

"Hey, Br- the girl said it would help me fit in," Janet said. She didn't want to tell them who it was for fear of what they would put Brenda through.

"What girl?" Felix asked. "I, uh, I can't say," Janet said, looking at her feet in discomfort.

"Young lady, you are grounded," Felix said. "We are very disappointed in you!" With that, Agatha and Felix stomped out of the room and slammed the door, leaving David, Sam, and Janet.

"It was Brenda, wasn't it," David said. "How did you know?" Janet asked. "Who else would dress you like a hooker?" David asked.

"Those are not hooker clothes," Janet argued. "And besides, a lot of girls dress like that."

"Girls OLDER than you!" David snapped. "You're eight, you're not supposed to dress like that? Why would she dress you in that?"

"She wanted to help me," Janet said. David and Sam stared at her.

"Help you?" He asked. "She would never help you unless she wanted to help herself in some way." Then, both boys gasped.

"Did she ask you anything?" Sam said nervously. "Well, maybe one question," Janet said. "What was it?" Sam asked, grabbing Janet's shoulders.

Janet didn't respond.

"Oh no, she didn't…" Sam said. Janet gulped as realization dawned upon her.

"She asked you how to identify a mirror person?" David asked, knowing that was the answer. Janet sighed, but didn't respond to either boys.

"She said she wanted to help me," Janet repeated, plopping down on bed. "I didn't know…"

"Brenda would never help you," Sam said, wracked with disappointment. "How could you fall for her lies like that?"

Janet turned her face to the other side of the bed and covered her eyes, filled with humiliation and despair. Suddenly, she realized how much of a fool she had been to trust her.


	17. Forest Confrontation

Janet spent the rest of the day in her bed well into the night, bitter at having been fooled so easily by Brenda. She and Sam hadn't talked to each other at all since Janet revealed what happened at the store.

Sam was sleeping in the bed next to Janet, the covers pulled over his bed. Janet was wide awake, her head on the pillow. She stared at the clock next to her.

It was 7:16. School started at 8:30.

Janet sighed as she thought she should probably wake up Sam to tell her she would have to leave soon. However, as her head began to be taken off the pillow, she suddenly felt chilly.

Janet was perplexed. She didn't have the fan on, and all the windows were closed, so there was no reason as to why she felt so cold.

_Maybe Sam's causing it, _Janet reasoned with herself, _Maybe it's a side-effect of his powers._

However, she suddenly remembered that Sam had never shown that side-effect, so he clearly wasn't causing it. Then, Janet noticed something else.

There was a light blue mist forming on the ground. Instantly, Janet threw the blanket covers on her and Sam, attempting to shield the two of them from the mysterious mist.

She shivered as the cold became more prominent through the covers. She shut her eyes tight, hoping that the cold would disappear soon. But it didn't. Instead, the cold grew and she could even see the mist beginning to seep through the covers.

The mists passed into her skin and through the bed, and her skin paled a bit. Curiosity began to overtake her, and she lightly began to pull the covers to see what was inside the room.

As she did so, her blue eyes widened in horror.

There, standing in the middle of the mist, was a light blue girl, probably around her and Janet's age, standing motionlessly as she stared at Janet.

Her eyes burrowed into the brunette's soul, and she began hyperventilating in shock. She gasped in shock, and then let out a scream. Instantly, Sam jerked out of the bed.

"What are you doing?" He asked. Out of the corner of Janet's eye, she could see the mist exiting through the door, and the blue girl had vanished.

"There was this girl in the room," Janet explained. "And a blue mist, and the room became colder. I didn't know what to do, so I…"

She looked at the time again. It was 7:29.

"…..Whoops, gotta go!" Janet said and bolted through the door before Sam could respond. Taking off down the stairs, she ran into Agatha.

"Okay, my arm is feeling better so I think I can go to school now," Janet said. "Where's David?"

"School?" Agatha said. "There's no need for that today."

Janet raised an eyebrow. "What are you talking about?" She asked, confused.

"School was cancelled," Agatha explained. "You and the other kids are free for today."

"Well isn't that a strange coincidence," Sam said, having followed Janet downstairs. "Also, where's David. If school is cancelled for the day, where has he gone?"

"He went out," Agatha said bluntly. Sam and Janet stared blankly at her.

"To do what?" Janet asked, having a feeling David was about to do something really dumb. As she would find out, she wasn't too far off.

"He said he needed to go talk to someone," Agatha answered. Sam and Janet gasped. The knew instantly what David was going to do, and they also knew it would not end well for him.

"Come on, Sam, let's go find my brother!" Janet said and grabbed Sam's hand, running out the door with him before Agatha could say anything.

"Um, be careful," She said, somewhat confused as to how abruptly the kids had left.

* * *

David was riding through the passageway of the forest on his bike. He had one person in mind: Brenda.

He was about to give that little brat a piece of his mind for manipulating his sister into giving her information. And he had a good idea just where she would be.

"And this, children, is how you spot a mirror person," He heard Brenda saying in a part of the forest. He stopped the bike on the road and hopped off, then started stomping towards where he heard Brenda's voice.

Eventually, he found Brenda and a bunch of other children in a neck of the woods. He could see Izzy sitting on a tree branch, but he didn't pay her much mind. He just had to set something straight with Brenda.

"You see, all mirror people have a blue shading in their hair," Brenda was saying to the other children, pointing at her own messy hair. "And furthermore…"

"Brenda Collins!" David shouted, causing Brenda to spin around in surprise. However, her expression dulled when she saw who it was.

"Oh great, it's the cynic," Brenda scoffed. "What do you want now? And make it quick, I'm talking to these kids."

"Oh, it's not going to be quick!" David shouted. The other kids groaned in annoyance. Apparently, they actually wanted to hear what Brenda was saying.

"How did you even know we were here?" Izzy asked from above the tree, not even bothering to look down at David.

"You and Brenda always come here," David reminded. "It's like your group spot or something."

"Just tell me why you're here?" Brenda asked, irritated.

"What was that crap you fed my sister?!" David screeched. "And why on earth did you dress her like some hooker?!"

"It's not going to affect her in anyway," Brenda reassured. "It was just a talk, and I asked if she knew anything about mirror people."

"That's a lie!" David shouted. "With all the things she said you claimed to know about, you may have permanently damaged her mentally."

"I don't think you know what that means," Izzy said from atop the tree. David glared up at her, gritting his teeth in displeasure. "You're one to talk!" He shouted up at her. "Do you even know the words that come out of your mouth?"

Izzy shrugged. "You can just say I'm sagacious," She replied with a smirk.

David groaned and then turned back to Brenda. "You may be going on our play date tomorrow, Brenda, but make no mistake, you are going nowhere near my sister!" He declared.

Brenda gave him a shove. "Look, your sister is going to be just fine, so don't go jumping to conclusions," She hissed.

"Oh, Janet will be fine, but what about him?" Izzy asked. David squinted up at her, confused. "What are you talking about?" He asked.

Izzy leapt off the tree branch and landed on the ground several feet away from him.

"You've been a pain in my neck for two years, David," Izzy exclaimed. "Acting like you know what's best for everyone. Well, maybe someone should teach you a lesson…"

"Yeah, he is very annoying," A diminutive boy agreed. The other kids murmured in agreement and glared at David, who backed up a bit.

"So, what do you say we string him up a bit?" Izzy suggested. The kids cheered a bit and then advanced towards David, who began feeling a tinge of intimidating.

By now, Sam and Janet were nearing the group of kids.

The two hid behind a fallen tree. "There they are," Sam said, peeking from above the tree. Janet took a glance and gasped.

"Why are they approaching my brother like that?" She asked, noticing the threatening glares the other kids were giving David.

"You see, David, no one cares what happens to Janet," The two heard Brenda say as the other children walked past her and towards David.

Janet's nails gripped the tree bark, somewhat upset at what Brenda had just said.

"She should just take care of herself," Brenda said. "Not let some boy go out and fight her own battles, which may get him hurt."

"That's not true!" David said defiantly. "Janet is a good person, better than all of you put together!"

Hearing this, Janet left the hiding spot and began sprinting towards the other children, infuriated.

"Oh, really?" Brenda mocked, oblivious to Janet approaching. "Well if she's such a good person, why isn't she here to stand up for you?"

By now, the other kids were inches away from David. One small girl with sandy blonde hair drew back her fist to punch David, but suddenly, Janet grabbed the girl's fist.

The other kids, including Brenda, jumped back in surprise. The blonde girl screamed in shock and was decked in the face by Janet, knocking her to the ground with a heavy thud.

Janet glared at Brenda. "What was that you were saying, Collins?" She hissed.

"Um, Janet, I didn't see you…" Brenda stuttered, still somewhat shocked at what she had seen. Before any of the other children could react, Sam bolted to the scene. However, he was in another disguise, with red hair and terracotta skin.

"Back off, all of you!" He demanded, shooing off the other children.

"Sam, what are you doing here?" Izzy asked in confusion. Sam stared at her for a moment and gestured for her to leave too. Perplexed, Izzy vanished behind the trees as well.

Now, all who were left were Sam, Janet, Brenda and David.

"How could you?" Janet asked Brenda angrily. "You not only used me like an old toy yesterday, but now you just tried to beat up my brother?"

"Hey, Izzy suggested it," Brenda reminded.

"That doesn't make you any less guilty!" Janet shot back. Brenda and Sam looked on, astounded at Janet's sudden burst of courage.

"Brenda, you and your friend Izzy are just bullies, and you've been picking on me and my brother for over a year," Janet said.

"Janet I-" Brenda started.

"No, Brenda, I'm done being nice to you!" Janet declared. "You don't know what is best for me, and you never will." With that, she grabbed David and Sam by the arm and dragged them from the forest, leaving Brenda.

"Come on, guys, let's go home," Janet said as the three took off down the passageway.


	18. Bella

Sam, David and Janet swung open the door and barged back into their house.

"What an awkward morning, wasn't it," David said, rubbing his forehead. "School is off for the day, a bunch of kids try to beat me up, and my little sister stood up for me."

"I guess I've been around Sam for too long," Janet suggested. "Technically, we've only known each other for a few days," Sam mentioned.

"Could this day get even weirder," David asked, brushing some dirt from his clothes. "Seriously, what could top what happened this morning?"

"I saw an apparition," Janet mentioned. David and Sam stared at her out of confusion.

"What do you mean, an apparition?" David asked, folding his arms. "Oh yeah, Janet mentioned that before we went to save your butt," Sam said. "She thought she saw some glowing blue girl in her room."

David paled a bit. "Hey, what's wrong?" Janet asked, noticing his freaked out expression.

"Izzy and Brenda…they mentioned something like that," David mumbled. Sam and Janet raised their eyebrows in confusion.

"I was eavesdropping on the two, and they said a few kids were seeing a glowing blue girl in their rooms," David explained.

"You mean like the girl we saw on the road before we met Sam?" Janet said. David nodded.

Sam gulped when he noticed that the two were now staring at him. "W-What is it?" He asked, somewhat confused.

"I mentioned that blue girl to you a few days ago," Janet recalled. "And you flipped out and asked if I saw who she was."

"Yeah, what's that supposed to do with anything?" Sam asked.

"Do you know that blue girl?" Janet asked. Sam took a deep breath and looked around, not knowing what to say. He bit his lip and finally said, "Maybe."

"Also, what about this Bella person?" David asked. "She's your sister, and you're rather secretive about her identity."

"I don't want to talk about her," Sam said harshly. "She's my sister and that's that. And she doesn't want me to reveal her identity anyways."

""Um, okay," David said. "However, I get the sense we're going to find out soon anyways."

"Whatever," Sam said as he raced up the stairs and into Janet's room. Flicking off the lights in the room, he leapt into the bed and sighed, exhausted.

"I really should be going home," He said to himself. "Bella is probably worried sick about me anyways, and I don't want to disappoint her."

Before Sam could contemplate further, he heard a knock on the window. Glancing at the window, he saw a dark silhouette standing from outside. It had the appearance of a girl.

"Hello, Samson," The voice whispered like a breeze of wind.

"Bella?!" Sam practically gasped, instantly recognizing the voice. "But-but, how did you-"

"I followed you to the Barrett house," Bella explained. "Since you were with David and Janet, I pretty much put together that you were with them."

Sam breathed in and out, uncomfortable. The window slipped open and Bella crawled inside. The room was dark so Bella couldn't be very well seen, even by Sam.

"We're going home Samson, now," Bella demanded. Sam clenched the bed covers in response as he tried to find a way to explain why he wanted to stay with the Barretts.

"Um, Bella, do you think you could compromise your visit for maybe a few more days," Sam spouted out. He knew it wouldn't work, but he felt like trying anyways.

"Kizzy spend two nights searching for you," Bella explained. "Several kids saw her and she nearly blew her cover. And if you continue staying with them, you might blow your cover with the other kids as well."

Sam bit his lip. "That's true, but, um…" Sam froze, knowing that what he was going to say next wouldn't exactly be a very reassuring thing to Bella.

"Well, what is it, Samson?" Bella asked, her tone sounding a little nervous.

"They know about my powers," Sam blurted out. The moment he spoke those words, the room suddenly became chilly. Bella stood as still as a statue, not uttering a word.

Then, her eyes and mouth started glowing blue, then her whole body. Sam covered his eyes, fearing the worst. A bright light omitted from Bella's body and in an instant, the room was covered in a bright blue light.

However, that was all that happened. The light vanished as quickly as it appeared, and Bella's body was restored to normal. However, in a few seconds, the door was pushed open, revealing David.

"What was that?!" He shouted frantically. "I saw a blue light coming from in the room and-" He saw Bella's silhouette, but couldn't see her clearly.

"What the…" He whispered. Bella wasn't going to wait for him to find out who she was, and she slipped through the window and out the house.

"Hey!" David shouted and bolted towards the window with surprising speed. "David, don't!" Sam shouted but David was too quick. He pushed the window sill open and leapt out.

It was then he remembered the window was twelve meters above the ground. He screamed as he plummeted down onto the driveway. However, he landed on his parents car, which somewhat broke his fall, but still injured his left arm.

David rolled onto the ground, groaning in pain, when he saw that Bella was sprinting off towards the forest.

Ignoring the pain in his arm, David got to his feet and took off running after the girl. "Hey, stop!" He shouted at her, but she ignored him. Soon, she disappeared into the forest. But David didn't give up. He continued into the forest as well.

It was surprisingly foggy in the forest, and there was a rather large gray mist concealing David's surroundings.

"Great, just great," David said. "Now, when I'm looking for someone, is when the forest decides to turn foggy."

He heard footsteps from inside the fog. They appeared to be going in a certain direction, and David took off after it.

"I'm not going to lose her now," He whispered as he managed to see the silhouette from inside the fog. However, the silhouette paused for a bit and David crashed right into her.

The two toppled over each other until the girl landed on David. David groaned in pain and he struggled to open his eyes, and saw who was on top of him.

"Izzy?!" He said, confused. Izzy was breathing heavily, clearly shaken. However, she regained her composure and got to her feet.

"What are you doing lounging around in the forest?" She demanded. "And don't you ask the same thing. I have the excuse that I was already here since last time you saw me, which was about twenty minutes ago."

"I…I was looking for this girl that was in Janet's room," David explained. "You sure it wasn't just Janet?" Izzy asked.

"No, there was a glowing blue light before I came in," He said. "So I think it's a mirror person, probably Sam's sister he mentioned before."

"Oh come on, you've fallen for the mirror people thing too?" Izzy asked, irritated. "You keep saying they aren't real, why do you believe them now?"

"It's complicated," David said. "And there was a glowing blue light when I saw that girl, so it has to be-"

"Maybe it was Sam?" Izzy suggested, then covered her mouth.

"No it couldn't…" David paused. "Wait…what did you say?"

"Nothing," Izzy replied. However, David wasn't convinced. "Nothing?" He said. "You said something about Sam being the one to glow blue."

"Yeah, what-what about it?" Izzy mumbled.

"How do you know Sam can glow blue?" David asked, taking a step forward.

Izzy gulped. "I was just thinking irrationally," She explained. "A mumble. It's not like I've seen him do it before…"

"What do you mean, 'before'?" David pressed on. Izzy silently cursed to herself.

"Another slip of the tongue, that's it," Izzy said, a beat of sweat on her forehead.

"The girl who always speaks in long words is mumbling?" David said. "That's something unexpected from you."

Izzy bit her tongue. "Hey, you brought up Bella, not me," She reminded.

"And how do you know that girls name is Bella?" David said suspiciously. Izzy began backing up a bit as David pressed forward.

"I heard you talking about her," She tried to explain. "We've only talked about her from inside our house, so unless you've been sneaking in our house, that's unlikely," David said.

Izzy began breathing heavily as she pressed herself against the tree.

"I am not Bella!" She shouted as a final attempt to be defiant.

"…I never said you were, Izzy," David responded. Then his eyes widened as he remembered something.

"Izzy, Bella, Izzy, Bella…" He mumbled to himself. "Izzy-Bella!"

"What do you mean?" Izzy asked.

"You're name isn't Izzy OR Bella," David said, putting two and two together. "You're real name is Isabella! Izzy is your nickname and Bella is just an alias!"

The fog seemed to dissipate as Izzy clenched her fists, exasperated.

"You are Sam's sister," David said, pointing an accusing finger at her and ignoring her irritated expression.

Izzy realized that she was caught. There was no getting out of this predicament. So, she came clean.

"Yes, I _am_."


	19. Revelation

"Yes, I _am_."

That moment when you think something is true but the revelation you are right still surprises you could now be applied to David. The moment Izzy, or Isabella, spoke those words, realization dawned upon him and he suddenly didn't feel very confident.

"So…so you are Sam's sister," He said, breathing heavily. Isabella gritted her teeth and reluctantly nodded. Then, her appearance began to alter slightly. She still had the red hair, but the lower half of it turned blue, her skin darkened slightly, and her shiny green eyes became bright blue.

"Don't tell Brenda," She warned. "Understand me?"

David didn't respond. He was still recovering from the shock of the revelation. "Did you hear me?" Isabella asked. "I said don't tell her!"

"I can't believe it," David muttered. "I've known you for two years, longer than I've known Brenda, maybe even longer than she's known you. How could I NOT know this?"

Isabella shrugged. "You aren't as smart as you like to think, David," She replied simply.

"There are so many things that never added up until now," David said. "I never saw your house. I never saw your parents. You always seemed to just disappear in the forest like that."

Then, forgetting what Isabella had said beforehand, David suddenly added, "I have to tell Brenda." With that, he turned to take off.

"NO!" Isabella shouted, and David suddenly found him flung into a tree. The tree immediately toppled over from the force.

Isabella stomped over to him. "You are not telling Brenda about this!" She hissed, grabbing David by the collar and hoisting him on his feet.

"Or what?" David asked. "You'll kill me?"

"Well, half of me might," Isabella responded. David flinched a bit. Isabella had never been very kind to him, but the thought that she may actually end his life made him uncomfortable.

"W-what?" He stammered nervously.

Isabella sighed and dropped David to the ground. "Sorry about that," She mumbled in a somewhat insincere tone. "But, a lot has happened lately thanks to you."

"Hey, it's not my fault some blue girl knocked me out on the road," David argued, getting to his feet and brushing his clothes off.

"You shouldn't of been there in the first place," Isabella hissed, clenching her fists. "We were upset."

"What do you mean, 'we'?" David asked. "Does that girl have anything to do with you?"

"It's complicated," Isabella replied. "But you have to bring Sam back to us, NOW."

David bit his lips as he tried to come up with an explanation. "It's a long story," David said. "But the thing is, Sam's…he's…"

"Spit it out!" Isabella demanded, frustrated.

"He's been staying with us voluntarily," David explained.

Isabella's mouth hung open in disbelief. "But that's impossible!" She said. "Sam would never stay with the likes of you willingly." She gasped and then added, "Did you infect him or something?"

"I'm not a virus, Izzy," David said. "You go and ask him yourself. He wants to stay-"

He was cut off when Isabella transformed her hand into a blade and pointed it at his throat. David gulped in fear and a beat of sweat dripped down his forehead.

"You have 24 hours," Isabella said. "Go get Sam, and send him back to the mirror with us. Okay, kid?" She pressed the blade against his throat lightly.

David nodded, and Isabella removed the blade and then disappeared into the fog.

* * *

"So, your sister came to visit you here?" Janet asked Sam inside her room. Sam nodded a bit and bit his lip. "It's a long story," Sam said. "And I told her you and David know about my powers, so now I think she's upset."

Janet nodded in response. Suddenly, the door was pushed open, and a shivering David shambled inside. He had a frozen look of fear on his face.

"David, where were you?" Janet asked. "Sam was just filling me in on his sister coming here and-"

"I know who your sister is, Sam," David revealed. The room grew silent. Sam and Janet stared at David in shock.

"You what?" Sam asked. David bolted onto the bed in between Sam and Janet. "I know who she is," He repeated.

Sam's face paled in shock. "W-what happened?" He asked, fearing the worst. "Yeah, who is it?" Janet asked.

"It's Izzy!" He shouted at Janet and began breathing heavily. Sam's eyes widened in shock and he bit his fingers. Janet's mouth hang open in shock.

"Izzy…" Janet said in disbelief. "Izzy is…"

"Yes, she is," David responded worriedly. "She confessed herself." The three didn't speak a word for several minutes as they tried to comprehend what had been said.

"Does Brenda know?" Janet asked. David and Sam shook their heads. "She said she'd kill me if I told Brenda about it," David said.

"Guys, there's something I should tell you," Sam said. The two stared at him. Sam, truly, didn't want to say anything, but now that his sister had been found out, he felt he needed to confess something.

"Me and Bella…are orphans," He said. David and Janet stared at him in confusion before they both said, "We know."

"Well, some kids have asked why I'm not in an orphanage, then," Sam continued. "Well, me and Bella used to live in one."

"Well, what happened?" David asked. Janet nodded in agreement. Sam sighed.

"Look, the people in the orphanage knew about my powers and my…reflection," Sam explained. "They did with Bella, too. But things were different. They loved Bella for her powers because she had more control over them. But I wasn't as fortunate. When I used my powers, something usually went wrong. Kids got injured, parts of the building would get damaged, so I wasn't very popular."

"We know how that feels," Janet mumbled under her breath.

"But then I met her," Sam said, and his face lit up briefly. David and Janet stared at him in confusion. "Who?" Janet asked.

"Her name was Amanda," Sam said. "She was a nice kid. She liked me. We became friends, and the fact that the other kids didn't respect me very much suddenly became an afterthought. I was happy, and so was she. And then…"

"And then what?" David asked, intrigued.

"Okay, about our reflections," Sam said. "They can't usually leave their mirrors, but we can. The thing is, if we let our emotions lose control, then they can possess us or something, and use us to enter this world."

"One of you lost control of your emotions?" David asked. Sam nodded, and a look of uncertainty spread across his face.

"It was…it was me!" He spat out after a while. "I got angry about something. I don't even remember what, and my reflection, he possessed me! He didn't like Amanda, so he, hurt her. Badly."

David and Janet stared at him in shock. "What happened to her?" Janet asked worriedly.

"She was taken to the hospital," Sam said. "At that point, Mirror Isabella, my sister's reflection, had us move out of the orphanage to avoid being taken away. Because of that…I never got to find out what happened to Amanda." A tear began to form in his eyes, but he wiped it away.

David and Janet stared at Sam for a moment as he covered his face. Eventually, he regained his composure and got off the bed.

"Um, guys," Sam said.

"What is it?" Janet asked.

"I think I should introduce you to someone," Sam replied.


	20. Mirror Dimension

Sam led David and Janet through the misty forest, holding each of their hands to avoid getting separated from them in the fog.

"Are you sure we should be here?" Janet asked, somewhat nervous. "I mean, Izzy-I mean Isabella could still be out here."

"Don't worry, we're almost there," Sam reassured, winking at the siblings. He then waved a hand and cleared the fog, allowing them to be able to see the forest.

"Where are you taking us?" David asked suspiciously. "I have a bad feeling about this."

"Oh, it's simple," Sam said. "Isabella wanted me in the mirror by 24 hours, but she didn't say for how long."

"You know, I don't think she intended for that little loophole of yours," David replied, agitated. "And she stuck a blade at my neck and implied she might kill me. She seems pretty serious."

"Don't worry, she's just bluffing," Sam replied. "I know her, and she would never do something like that, even towards someone she doesn't like too much."

"Oh, that makes me feel so much better," David replied sarcastically. Sam halted the two at a tree stump. "Here we are," Sam said, gesturing towards the stump.

"Here?" Janet asked, uncertain. "Your home is in your tree stump?"

"No, silly," Sam said before his transparent hands stretched out and removed the branches covering the large mirror. David and Janet stared at it in confusion.

"THIS is what I'm talking about," Sam said. "I live in that mirror. Come in." With that, he dove into the mirror and disappeared inside. Janet paused for a bit, then excitedly jumped into the mirror as well.

David blinked. "This is so confusing," He mumbled and climbed into the mirror after the two.

Once inside, he landed on a smooth surface. Getting to his feet, David stared in amazement. He seemed to be in a room, but it was black and blue in colour. There was no real furniture or objects in the room save for the mirror.

"Well, here we are," Sam said to him happily. "The Mirror dimension."

"Sounds neat" Janet said from behind him. The two raced for the door and pushed it open before David could fully comprehend what was happening.

"Hey, wait for me!" He shouted and took off after them. Kicking the door open, he found himself in a long black hallway with Sam and Janet racing down it. David groaned and followed them.

"So, uh, who are we going to meet here?" David asked, confused. Sam didn't give and answer and continued on his way with Janet close behind him.

David followed them down the hallway, intrigued.

"Where are you taking us?" He asked. "To go meet someone," Sam answered before adding, "I told you that already."

"Yeah, but who?" David asked. Sam stopped at a door at the end of the hallway. Pushing the door open, Sam entered a new room, with Janet and David following, feeling somewhat uncertain.

"Kizzy, are you in here?" Sam called out. After no initial response, a small girl floated down from the ceiling and towards Sam. David and Janet hid in the shadows, mystified.

The girl had light blue skin and dark blue hair. She looked about a year older than Sam, and she was wearing a black gown with blue stripes. She landed in front of Sam with a cross look on her face.

"That's the girl I saw in my room," Janet whispered, tugging on David's sleeves.

"Kizzy, it's you," Sam said joyously. "Look, a bunch of incidents happened, and I was staying with this family, and-" He was cut off when Kizzy punched him in the stomach, causing him to double-over and gasp in pain.

David and Janet gasped, watching in shock.

"Do you realize how worried your sisters were?" Kizzy snapped at Sam. "They had me check the neighbourhood to find you, and I was nearly caught a multiplicity of times! Are you pleased with yourself?!"

"Well, maybe I could answer if you let me speak," Sam choked out, sitting on the ground. "Look, I was staying with these siblings. Their names are David and Janet. I'll talk more, but I need to see Mirror Isabella now. Have you seen her?"

Kizzy scoffed and pointed a finger at a small room. Sam beckoned for the siblings to follow him, but they kept out of sight from Kizzy as they followed him to the room.

"This is Mirror Isabella's substitute room," Sam explained. "She lives away from here, and usually only comes when something important has happened."

"So, where is she?" David asked nervously. The three walked over to a rather large crystal bed on the centre of the room, but they could find no sign of Mirror Isabella.

Suddenly, the three heard a screech coming from behind them. Screaming in surprise, David and Janet jumped forward and bounced on the bed before landing on the floor. Sam, however, casually turned around to see a crystal blue girl, visibly around Isabella's age, hanging upside down from the ceiling.

"Mirror Isabella!" Sam said happily and hugged the girl while she was still hanging from the ceiling. David and Janet trembled as they peeked up from behind the bed and watched the two. They saw that Mirror Isabella looked just like the real Isabella, but had a blue colour palette. Her hair was also much longer, reaching past her shoulders. She was wearing a blue nightgown.

Mirror Isabella dropped to the ground and hugged Sam back, and for a moment, David saw a look of genuine happiness on the girl's face. But then she frowned and pushed Sam away.

"Sam, where were you these last few days?" She asked, clearly disappointed.

"It's a long story," Sam said. "But here's the short version: I got hit by a truck, two kids named David and Janet saved me, and they took me to their house where I stayed for a bit."

"David and Janet," Mirror Isabella mumbled. "Hey, Isabella talks about those two all the time."

"Izzy talks about us?" Janet whispered to David, who shrugged. Unfortunately, Mirror Isabella heard them and floated over the bed.

"I can't believe Izzy actually mentioned us to her," Janet continued to David, oblivious to Mirror Isabella until she, along with David, noticed her hovering a few feet above them.

Instantly, the two grew silent.

Mirror Isabella stared at them in shock, then turned back towards Sam.

"Did you...bring them here?" She asked.


	21. Meeting

"Did you…bring them here?" Mirror Isabella asked Sam, who stood at the other side of the bed, conflicted as to how to respond.

"Well, I did bring them to see you, but…" Sam paused a bit and stared awkwardly at the ground. Mirror Isabella glared at him and turned down to stare at the two unfamiliar children below her.

David and Janet stood crouched at the bed, staring up at Mirror Isabella, who was hovering several feet above the ground near them. David gulped, somewhat intimidated. Mirror Isabella seemed more serious than Isabella, and if she was a reflection of Isabella, did that mean she had her mean-spirited personality? He simply sat, quietly, in front of the glowing girl, waiting for her to respond.

Janet, however, had a different response. She happily stood up and waved to the older girl.

"Hello, Izzy's reflection," She greeted. "I'm Janet Barret, and your brother's new friend, and this is my brother David Barret. We were brought here to meet you."

_Izzy's reflection? _Sam thought to himself from the other side of the bed. _That's a dehumanizing way to refer to my sister._

Mirror Isabella stared down at Janet, somewhat perplexed, and blinked about twice, before zipping past Janet in a burst of blue mist. She grabbed Janet's shoulder, causing the eight year old to shiver. Mirror Isabella's hand was surprisingly chilly.

"This is a unheralded ingress," She whispered. "My younger brother has invited a infinitesimal little colleen and her kinsperson to my exquisite enclosure."

David, who had pretty much decided that Mirror Isabella had the same personality as her counterpart, stood up and rolled his eyes.

"Well, gee, it's a good thing she has Izzy's remarkable taste of wording," He mumbled sarcastically. "Seriously, that was like, six or seven words I didn't understand."

"Educate yourself," Mirror Isabella sneered, frowning a bit at him. She let go of Janet's shoulder and floated over towards him. "And, what significance do you have with my sister, lad?"

"We're, uh…significant to each other," David said with a shrug. He didn't want to tell Mirror Isabella that he was arch-enemies with her sister.

Mirror Isabella's right eye sparkled a bit and she said, "Isabella mentions you and your little sibling nearly every day. She says you and her are 'tight', which is a pretty undignified way of speaking." She rolled her eyes and scoffed.

"Yeah, I guess so," David agreed. "So, I guess you're wondering why Sam was gone for those last few days."

"Oh, oh, I can explain this one," Janet said, waving her arms. "Sam was hit by a truck, and he nearly drowned, but I rescued him, and we took him back to our house, and he tried to leave, and I followed him, and I got mauled by a dog, and he saved me and revealed his powers to me, and we befriended each other."

Mirror Isabella stared at Janet in bewilderment.

"Janet, can't you see you're your filling my sister with unimportant information?" Sam said with a nervous smile. "Besides, she doesn't care about that stuff, right?"

Mirror Isabella turned to him, and Sam paled.

"Can we talk, Samson?" Mirror Isabella asked. Sam nodded slowly and Mirror Isabella began to float towards him. David and Janet followed, but Mirror Isabella halted him.

"Alone," She added to them before continuing towards Sam. Taking Sam by the hand, Mirror Isabella led him out of the room, leaving the two siblings alone.

"…Sam's sister seems nice," Janet said after a while.

* * *

The moment the two were out of the room, Mirror Isabella scowled and pushed Sam onto the ground.

"You must be screwing with me, Samson Crystal!" She hissed. "You not only almost got yourself killed, but you revealed your powers to two anonymous little kids! You've been brought up way better than this!" She floated towards him, causing him to recoil slightly.

"Look, David and Janet are nice kids," Sam defended himself. "They're parents may be intrigued by my powers, but David and Janet are different."

"Oh, that's SO much better," Mirror Isabella, narrowing her eyes. "These two snot-nosed kids don't care about your powers, but their parents, who have a higher authority of power, do!"

"Their parents aren't that bad, okay," Sam said.

"And how do you know?" Mirror Isabella asked. "You've only spent a couple of days with them. How do you know what their true ambition is? Maybe they want to lock you in a lab so scientists can poke and prod you like some kind of freak of nature!"

"They wouldn't do that!" Sam argued, but his expression spoke differently.

"How do you know?" Mirror Isabella inquired. "Don't you know what non-Mirror people are capable of? They may not have powers, but that doesn't mean they aren't dangerous."

"David and Janet are not dangerous," Sam said, agitated. "They're kids. Janet's the same age as I am, maybe younger. You can't just go around accusing her of that."

"Samson, you leave that girl right now," Mirror Isabella ordered, aiming a finger at him. "She should not have anything to do with us, or you!"

At that point, Sam was now the one to glare. He stood up and stared at Mirror Isabella. "She's my friend, Mirror Isabella!" He shouted at her angrily.

At that point, Mirror Isabella raised her hand above Sam's face. Sam's face softened and a look of fear replaced it. He raised his hands to shield himself and recoiled.

"I'm sorry, sister," He mumbled bitterly. "I'll come back tomorrow. But please let me spend at least one more day with them. Please."

Mirror Isabella lowered her hand a bit. She stared at Sam for about a minute, then whispered, "You may. But don't compromise me."

Sam nodded vigorously, and sighed heavily.

* * *

David and Janet were sitting on the bed, waiting for the two to return, when Sam and Mirror Isabella arrived back into the room.

"Mirror Isabella is letting me stay with you guys for one more day!" He said happily, hugging the two kids. "But she wants me to come back tomorrow."

Janet frowned a bit. "But you're my best friend," She whispered to Sam. Mirror Isabella, who was watching a few feet away, grimaced at Janet's comment.

"Out, out, both of you," She said. "It's reaching the afternoon, anyways."

Sam nodded and took Janet by the arm, walking out the room with her. Janet waved to Mirror Isabella as they left.

David got up from the bed and began to follow, but Mirror Isabella unexpectedly grabbed him by the arm. Yanking him towards her, Mirror Isabella whispered into David's ear.

"David, keep your sister _away _from my brother."


	22. Upcoming Events

"Your sister seems like a nice kid," Janet said as she and Sam slipped through the mirror and back into the real world. "A little stoic, but nice nonetheless."

"Yeah, sure thing Janet," Sam said, a sliver of uncertainty in his voice. He then decided to change the subject. "So, how well do you think you could teach me a little more control over my powers?"

"I'm not entirely sure about that," Janet replied with a shrug as the two trekked through the forest. "But I could try."

"Great news," Sam whispered, rolling his eyes.

By now, David had joined them. "Um, Janet, Sam," He called out. The two eight year olds stopped and turned to face him.

"Izzy's reflection told me to give you guys a message," David explained. "She told me to tell you that you two should keep away from each other."

The two kids stared at David in silence, unblinking as they processed the information.

"That's, uh, an odd message," Sam said, shrugging. "I mean, there are a few plot holes in it. How far away from each other? How long should we keep away from each other?"

"She didn't go into detail," David said. "But she sounded serious."

Sam froze. "You know, maybe I should just go back home now," He suggested and began to walk towards the mirror, but Janet lightly grabbed his sleeve.

"Oh, come on Sam, I bet she was just kidding," Janet said with a smile.

"Um, I guess," Sam said, uncertain.

"Maybe she's a little jealous," Janet joked, brushing Sam's arm playfully. Sam responded with a gulp and, after a few moments, decided to continue following the two Barrets towards their house."

"Besides, Mirror Isabella isn't our primary concern right now," David said.

"Who is, then?" Sam asked.

"Don't you know who's coming for out play-date?" David reminded. Janet and Sam suddenly remembered.

"Brenda Collins and her lousy parents," Sam and Janet said in unison. Then, Janet added, "Jinx! You owe me a soda!"

"No I don't," Sam said bluntly.

"Guys, this is no time for jokes," David said. "When Brenda comes tomorrow, she's just going to try and learn more about mirror people from Janet."

"Oh, yeah," Janet said. "Well, I won't let her! I'm not going to let her fool me with the promise of stupid clothes!"

"Right," Sam said. "Besides, if she tries something, it's still three against one."

"Exactly," David said. "But still, she worries me. Who knows what malevolent scheme she's concocting at this very moment?"

* * *

Mom, Dad, do I really have to go to on this play date?" Brenda whined while sitting on a couch at her house. Bob was watching a soccer game on the television screen while stuffing his mouth with chips while her mother was picking out clothing for Brenda to wear to school.

"Of course you do," Mary replied without bothering to turn and look at her daughter.

"But why?" Brenda asked. "Our last play date was a disaster, and this morning, I got in a fight with David and Janet."

"All friends have fights," Bob mumbled as he continued watching the game.

"I'm not friends with those two," Brenda insisted. "Besides, they still probably don't want to see me right now, or tomorrow."

"Well, we can't change that, honey," Mary said.

"Yes you can," Brenda said. "You can just cancel the play dates for tomorrow. Besides, I want to see what Izzy has to do tomorrow."

"Yeah, well we don't know where Izzy lives," Bob replied. "And besides, we don't know any other families all to well, so why bother when we can just focus on one."

"You don't even like them," Brenda said.

"Who cares whether we like them or not?" Bob asked, stuffing another chip in his mouth. "This is about you befriending Dave and Jet."

"Their names are David and Janet," Brenda corrected. "Whatever," Bob says. "I have a game to watch."

Brenda groaned in exasperation.

* * *

"Lizzy, Kizzy, come here right now," Mirror Isabella ordered, hovering through the window and biting her fingernails. Instantly, Kizzy flew into the room, followed by Lizzy, the girl who had talked to Brenda and Isabella beforehand.

"Yes, Mirror Isabella," The two chimed and curtseyed.

Mirror Isabella stopped hovering and landed slowly onto the ground. Tracing back and forth for about a minute, she stopped in front of the two girls.

"Sam has made two "friends"," Mirror Isabella said, rolling her eyes. "Especially that girl with hair coloured like mire named Janet."

"Hmm, and what do you have to ask of us?" Lizzy asked, gesturing for Mirror Isabella to continue.

Mirror Isabella clenched her fist and pursed her lips. "Look, I know Sam and Izzy hate for me to intrude on their business, but…"

"You want us to spy on them again, don't you," Kizzy correctly guessed.

"Just act like a surveillance for my little brother, okay," Mirror Isabella responded, her eyes gleaming. "Can you do that for me, hmm?"

Lizzy and Kizzy stared at each other for a moment, then turned to Mirror Isabella and nodded, eliciting a grin from the latter.

"Great, now get moving," Mirror Isabella ordered as the two girls took off in a swirl of mystical blue. "And don't hesitate to intervene if something suspicious happens," She added.

As Mirror Isabella watched the two girls leave the room, a small glowing blue boy, looking around eight years old, watched from a small crevice in the room.

"Oh dear, Mirror Isabella," The boy whispered in displeasure. "Not again."


	23. Practice

Sam, David, and Janet had finally reached their house, and were at the driveway.

"Are you sure about this?" Sam asked Janet, who simply shrugged in response. David, who was watching, rolled his eyes.

"Seriously, I'm a little worried," Sam whispered nervously. "I am too, Sam," Janet said, holding Sam's wrists, "But we have to give it a little try."

"Actually, I have to agree with the preconscious shrimp here," David cut in. "I mean, I thought you were joking about training him to use his powers, but, you were serious about this?"

"Of course I was," Janet said, astounded. "Why would I joke about that?"

David shrugged. "I don't know, it just seemed like you couldn't do it," He said.

"Is this because I'm a girl?" Janet asked, glaring.

"NO!" David defended, taken aback. "I mean, I don't think I could train him either! We're both kids with little understanding on how these mirror powers work."

"Um, are you going to 'train me' or are you just going to continue arguing?" Sam asked, folding his arms. "Besides, I want to see what the kid can do."

"Great, at least someone respects me," Janet said, putting her hands on her hips and smiling triumphantly. "Okay Sam, I want you to make a ball of fire."

"…What?" Sam asked. "We're immediately going to do this?"

"Yes we are," Janet said. "Now make a ball of fire."

Both Sam and David gulped. Sam, reluctantly, then raised his hand out, and a small blue flame appeared over his palm. Janet's eyes lit up.

"Now, make it bigger," She demanded.

"Janet, aren't you over thinking this?" Sam asked, somewhat disturbed. However, he nevertheless agreed, and the fireball was increased in size.

By now, the fireball was beginning to slightly burn Sam's hand. Yelping in pain, Sam tossed the fireball into the air.

"Heads up!" David shouted and tackled Janet out of the way as the fireball went soaring to the ground. It smashed onto the ground, barely missing their parents car. As soon as the fireball made impact on the driveway, it vanished.

David got to his knees, shuddering. Janet, however, sprung to her feet, ecstatic. "That was awesome!" She cried.

"No, we could've died!" David shouted.

"But we didn't," Janet pointed out. Unconvinced, David got to his feet and approached Sam, who was still recovering from burning his hand.

"Look kid, you have to find a way to make your fireballs disappear without just throwing them," David snapped. "If you don't you may end up killing someone, or worse."

"Sorry, but I told you, I'm not very adept at stuff like this," Sam reminded.

"Well, do it again, maybe you could control it," Janet suggested. "Practice makes perfect, after all."

Sam nodded and made another fireball. However, as he tried to find some way to make it disappear, it grew out of control and he was forced to toss it away. It landed on the grass, burning a few grass to a crisp.

"Again," Janet said. Once more Sam made a fireball that resulted in a similar failure.

"Again," Janet repeated. Sam rolled his eyes and tried again, but it once more ended in disaster. But still, Janet did not relent.

After several more tries, Sam collapsed on the ground, exhausted. "I give up, Janet," Sam said. "I don't think I'll ever master this thing."

Janet sighed. "Well if you can't control it, you could end up endangering others and yourself," She pointed out. Sam face palmed.

"I'm actually way better at dissipating snow and ice," Sam revealed. Then, as a demonstration, he created a small glowing snowball and then effortlessly made it vanish.

Janet's eyes brightened when she saw it. "Wait, that's it Sam," She said, snapping her fingers.

"What's it?" Sam and David asked in unison.

"Make a fireball," Janet said. Sam's eye twitched.

"Janet, I told you-" Sam started but Janet cut him off with a wave of her hand. Groaning, Sam once more made a fireball that began to increase in size.

"Um, Janet?" David said, backing away from Sam.

"Now, make a blast of snow," Janet ordered. Quick as lightning, a blast of ice erupted from Sam's hand, engulfing the fireball and putting it out.

"Whoa," Sam and David both said, Sam backing up a bit.

"That's how you do it," Janet said. "You can use our other powers as a way to control your abilities. Your ice powers overcame your fire powers and caused the fire to vanish."

"That's actually rather smart," Sam said with a smile. Suddenly, the three heard the door creak open. They turned around to see Felix and Agatha standing at the door, a look of awe on their faces.

"We noticed you using your powers and saw you use the snow to get rid of the fire," Felix explained. "It was…amazing."

"I showed him to do that," Janet said proudly.

"…Hey, you think you could do that again, just to see if you can handle it," Agatha said with a smile. Sam nodded and made a fireball, then created a blast of ice that evaporated the fire.

"Amazing," David said, eliciting a smile from Janet, who folded her arms in a look of victory. Then, David added, "But we have to keep Brenda from knowing about this."

Janet and Sam nodded understandingly.

* * *

In the mirror dimension, Mirror Isabella paced back and forth, her arms folded behind her back, when the door to her room was pushed open and a certain red-head entered.

"Oh, it's you Bella," Mirror Isabella said, clearly disinterested, before continuing to pace around. Isabella rolled her eyes and began to pick out a black and blue t-shirt.

"So, don't overreact, but David knows I'm a mirror person," Isabella confessed. Mirror Isabella paused.

"I know, Bella," Mirror Isabella revealed. "Our little brother brought his friends over to come see me." Isabella briefly gained a look of surprise before regaining her calm expression.

"So, how did it go?" Isabella asked.

"I couldn't care less about David, but Janet worries me," Mirror Isabella admitted.

"No, it's David who's a pain in the posteriors," Isabella replied. "Janet's harmless."

"Yeah, but she and Sam seem to have gotten close those last few days," Mirror Isabella sold, folding her arms across her chest. "She reminds me a bit of that orphanage girl two years back…"

"I thought we agreed not to talk about her," Isabella whispered.

"Look, Bella, if Janet's really becoming friends with Sam, then you know he'll start distancing himself from us, and someone is bound to get hurt, and you don't want that to happen, do you?" Mirror Isabella inquired.

Isabella paused, then shook her head.

"Exactly," Mirror Isabella said. "Now get out. I have to think things over."

Isabella nodded and exited the room.


	24. Lizzy

The very next day was school, unfortunately for David and Janet. However, the day past by quicker than they'd hoped.

Isabella was coincidentally off from school, so part of the bullying duo was no concern for the Barret siblings. Brenda, on the other hand, did attend school, but she didn't bother David t all and pretty much ignored him. At the same time, however, she had become very popular amongst the class, no doubt because of the information of mirror people she had ripped from Janet.

Despite Isabella and Brenda being of no concern for either of the two, David and Janet were still feeling kind of odd. Janet practically shut down from the rest of the class and David just brushed off the other kids. Nevertheless, school ended and David, Janet and Brenda left for home.

As Janet caught up to David, she said, "Are you worried?"

"About what?" David asked, though he already knew the answer.

"About the play date," Janet answered. "Brenda and her parents are coming over."

David shrugged. "I'm not scared of Brenda," He insisted. "As long as we keep her in the dark on Sam and his abilities, we should be in the safe until the play date ends."

"Yeah, I guess so," Janet agreed. However, a hand suddenly grasped the two by the shoulders. David rolled his eyes and Janet flinched. The two siblings spun around, expecting to see Brenda, but were instead met with a new face.

"Hey, who are you?" Janet asked when she saw a blonde girl about Isabella's age. She was wearing a shirt similar to Isabella's signature red shirt, but was blue instead. She was wearing a black skirt and black and blue stockings, along with dark blue shoes.

"I'm Lizzy, Janet," The girl replied.

"Hey, you're that girl in my class," David said. "Always hanging around with Izzy whenever Brenda isn't around."

Lizzy sidestepped past David and flipped onto a large rock.

"You know David, I've always wondered what it's like being like you," Lizzy said. "Well, a creature like you, to be precise."

"Creature?" David said, then realized something. "Wait a minute, Lizzy? Izzy?"

"Coincidence, much," Lizzy said, balancing on the rock.

"You are kidding me," David snorted. "You guys really suck when it comes to names. You guys couldn't come up with a good name so you just decided to rhyme it with Izzy?"

"Don't be rude, David," Janet whispered nervously. "We're dealing with a mirror person here."

"I'm not exactly a mirror person, exactly," Lizzy said, jumping off the rock and landing upside down on her hands.

"Then what are you?" David asked. "Sam's caregiver or guardian or something."

"No, I'm Bella's," Lizzy corrected. "Kizzy is Sam's guardian."

"Kizzy?" Janet asked. "Who's that?"

David folded his arms. "You guys really have to come up with way more creative names," He sneered. "This is getting old."

Lizzy mock giggled. "That's sweet of you," She sarcastically said. "Hey, maybe you could use that kind of smart talk in actual negative situations, okay."

With that, she playfully smacked David's cheek.

"Oh shi-" David shouted but stopped himself. Janet jumped back in surprise as David stumbled backwards, holding his cheek. He took a few deep breaths and removed his hand.

"Um, how does it look?" David asked. Janet gulped when she saw his cheek.

"Uh, you may want to ask the mirror that," She replied nervously.

* * *

David, upon reaching his house, took off to the mirror in the washroom. Upon looking at his reflection, he immediately saw that his cheek was incredibly red and bruised, and a few cuts were there.

Sam entered the washroom, along with Janet.

"Janet told me about Lizzy," He said. David turned to him and Sam winced upon seeing him.

"What happened to your face?" Sam asked. David's face twitched in a mixture of pain and annoyance.

"Lizzy happened, kid," David said angrily. "That freaking hurt more than it should have!" He massaged his aching jaw.

"That's Lizzy for you," Sam said, shrugging apathetically. "She gets like that sometimes."

"You don't even care?" Janet asked, tapping Sam's shoulder.

"Well, it was just one slap, right?" Sam asked. David glared at him in response, as did Janet. For some reason, Sam felt more uncomfortable that Janet was staring at him angrily, which hadn't happened before.

"Sorry, it's, uh…" Sam simply retreated from the washroom, leaving David and Janet alone.

"Something weird happened there," Janet said.

"Thank you, Captain Obvious," David said, rolling his eyes while still clutching his jaw. "That kid is hiding something, and it's more than just his powers."

"Actually, let's not worry about him, right now," Janet said. "I think he needs some time alone. In the meantime, let's worry about someone worth worrying about."

"Brenda Collins," David hissed.

"I wonder what she's planning back at her house," Janet whispered, tugging on her ponytail.

* * *

Brenda sat on her bed, lost in her thoughts.

"Who knew popularity could be so aggravating," She grumbled to herself. "All everyone wanted to do was ask me more questions, and questions, and a bunch of compliments here and there…"

She began gripping her bed covers tightly.

"I didn't even get any time to talk to David or Janet," She whispered to herself.

_Wait, why am I concerning myself with those losers? _She thought, confused. _They don't mean anything to me, they're just geeks._

She gritted her teeth in irritating. Her head was beginning to hurt from all the stuff she was thinking.

_Our play date is coming up in about an hour, _Brenda thought. _Oh boy, this ought to be fun. I'm going to the houses of the kids who have probably listed me at the top of their "Most Hated Kids' list._

She sat up as she remembered something.

"Hey, what about that Sam kid," She said to herself. "Didn't he defend David when Izzy and those other kids ganged up on him. But he's never shown concern for David."

Her eyes widened a bit.

"And his hair was a different colour at that point," She remembered. "And nearly every time I've seen him, he wears black and blue. And David and Janet seemed to know so much about mirror people at around the same time I've seen him with them."

She sprang from her bed.

"I got it!" She shouted. "He's a mirror person fanatic just like me!"

She raced downstairs where her parents were watching a soccer game.

"Mom, dad, we have to go to the Barrets house RIGHT NOW!" She shouted, startling Bob and Mary. The two turned to their daughter.

"But your play date is in another hour!" Mary complained.

"I don't care!" Brenda said. "We go to their house or I go alone!"

With a groan, Bob and Mary got up from their couch, shut off the television, and followed their daughter out the house.


	25. The Second Play Date

"It's almost time," Janet whispered to David in his bedroom. "The Collins are coming over soon."

"Darn it, if only we could postpone it somehow," David said. He thought a bit, and then decided. "Well, it couldn't hurt to try."

"Try what?" Janet asked, somewhat nervous.

"Excuse me, I'm going to go ask my parents if we can stop this play date, at least for today," David said and sprinted out of the room before Janet could respond.

"They're not going to listen, you know," Janet called out, even though she knew David wasn't listening. The ten year old boy took off down the stairs, nearly tripping a few times, then reached the kitchen.

"Mom, dad, could we compromise our play date?" He asked bluntly. Felix and Agatha turned around.

"Why ever would we do that?" Felix asked, confused.

"Look, there's a lot of things happening lately," David replied. "Sam's powers, some other stuff, and this bruise I got on my face. And now Brenda, Bob and Mary are coming over."

"So, it's a play date," Agatha said.

"What if the Collins find out about Sam's powers?" David pointed out. "They are nosy people who can't keep their mouths shut about anything. They'll tell others, and authorities will probably find out, and they'll take Sam away!"

"He can defend himself, I'm sure," Felix said.

"He's still a little kid," David reminded. "He may be able to hold out for a bit, but not forever. They will be able to overpower him."

At that, Felix and Agatha began thinking things over.

"Son, maybe you have a-" Felix began when the door suddenly burst open to reveal Brenda and a very agitated Bob and Mary.

"Hello, Barrets!" Brenda said joyfully. She rushed over and hugged Felix and Agatha, then rushed over and embraced David, who reluctantly hugged her back.

"Your acting won't work on me," David whispered while the two hugged.

"Just go along with it," Brenda whispered back through gritted teeth. The two freed each other and turned to their bewildered parents.

"Well, you two are sure getting along better than before," Agatha said hopefully. "Maybe this play date will turn out much better than before."

"You bet," Brenda said, still keeping her cheerful façade for her parents and David's.

"Look, I know we don't exactly get along that much, but we do this for you kids," Bob said. "So, you could hurry up upstairs and start doing what friends do while we have dinner, 'kay?"

Brenda and David nodded and Brenda dragged David upstairs.

The moment they were upstairs, David freed himself from Brenda's grasp and pushed her into a wall. He hissed, "Whatever you have planned, I won't let you get away with it."

"Mellow down, Davey, I'm not trying to be malevolent, for now," Brenda reassured. David, unconvinced, nevertheless released Brenda. She brushed off her gray shirt and said, "So, where is Little Jane?"

"None of your business," David said. Unfortunately, Janet happened to open the door right at that moment and interrupted the two. David face palmed.

"I see you're here early," Janet whispered. Brenda nodded while David rolled his eyes.

"Let's just get this over with quickly with no problems, right?" Janet said, hoping to avoid conflict. David and Brenda reluctantly nodded as well.

Brenda then pushed past Janet and opened the door to Janet's bedroom. "Where is he?" She whispered to avoid David and Janet hearing her.

"Hey, you're not allowed in my room!" Janet insisted, pushing the door closed. Brenda raised her hands up, mockingly feigning fear, and said, "Oh come on, what's to hide!"

The three then heard Sam sneeze from inside Janet's room. "Who was that?" Brenda asked putting her hands on her hips.

"Uh, that was me," David said, but he knew they were screwed.

Brenda rolled her eyes at him. "David, you are way to old to be coming up with these stupid excuses," She sneered and then kicked the door open.

However, she saw nobody.

"You see, nobody's there," Janet said hopefully. Brenda scrunched up her nose, unconvinced, and then her eyes landed on Janet's bed, which was very messy, with the bed covers in disarray.

"I've never seen your bed look like that, Janet," Brenda inquired, stepping inside. Janet gulped and grabbed Brenda by the collar.

"I'm fixing it later," Janet replied, panicking. Brenda simply brushed Janet off and then lunged at the bed, ripping the covers off. Sure enough, Sam was hiding on the bed, and looked up nervously to see the three kids staring at him.

"Uh, hey Brenda," He whispered nervously. Then, before she could react, he grabbed one of Janet's pillows and smacked Brenda in the face with it. Brenda threw the pillow away, but by then, Sam and Janet had already taken off.

David was about to follow, but Brenda grabbed him and pushed into a chair. Then, using Janet's jump rope, she tied him to the bed.

"Okay, what was…I think his name was Sam doing in here?" She interrogated. Before David could reply, Agatha called out from downstairs, "Hey, what are you kids doing up there?"

"She has me tied to a chair!" David called out.

"We're just playing a game!" Brenda shouted.

"No, don't listen to her!" David panicked.

"Um, if you're just playing a game, I guess it's okay," Agatha said. David groaned.

"Well, using my brilliant mind, I figured that Sam is-" Brenda started. David squeezed his eyes shut, certain Sam's secret had been found out.

"-a mirror person fanatic like me!" Brenda finished. "And he's told you all their secrets!"

David opened his eyes, and his jaw hit the floor. "Are you…kidding me?" He asked in disbelief. "You came to THAT conclusion?"

Brenda nodded triumphantly. "Pretty smart, eh?" She asked.

"…That wasn't even close," David said. "We knew what a mirror person was before we even formally met Sam."

"Well how did you know then?" Brenda asked. However, she shushed David before he could reply.

"Wait a minute, you have dark clothing, and a bunch of mirrors, and your sister has blue eyes," Brenda said.

"What is that supposed to mean?" David asked, confused. "I like Batman, we have no more mirrors than your family, and blue eyes is a fairly common eye color."

"By gosh, I figured it out!" Brenda shouted, ignoring what David had said. "The mirror people are YOU!"

"WHAT?!" David shouted in disbelief. "No, the mirror person is Sam!" He then realized what he just said and silently cursed.

Brenda paused and stared at him. "What did you say?" She asked, shocked.

David gulped. He realized he had a lot of explaining to do when Sam and Janet found out about this.


	26. The Secret is Revealed

David cursed to himself. How could he have revealed Sam's secret to Brenda so quickly? She'd barely even began interrogating him and he'd already spilled.

Brenda was staring at him, wide-eyed in shock, and repeated, "What did you say?"

David simply shrugged. He realized he couldn't just act like he hadn't said anything because Brenda obviously wouldn't buy it. David decided it was time to come clean.

"Fine, we found out Sam is one of those mirror people you've been trying to track down for years," David confessed. "Janet was telling the truth when she said Sam had rescued her from that dog days ago."

Brenda stifled a giggle. "Oh David, you can't possibly believe me to be _that _stupid," She said, putting her hands on her hips. "Sam is a weirdo, but he can't possibly be a mirror person. If he was, I'd have found out long ago."

"Well, he is," David snapped, narrowing his eyes. "You're not a senior mirror person-buster, you're a little girl. And you have to manipulate and emotionally torment and even littler girl to gain information so you can even have a change of finding a real mirror person."

Now it was Brenda who narrowed her eyes. "Hey, it's not my fault your sister is terrible at keeping secrets," She snapped. "It didn't even take that much provocation to convince her. And besides, I would've found out Sam was a mirror person sooner or later anyways."

"Well we beat you to the catch," David remarked. "You want to find a mirror person to hog all the glory for yourself, but you failed. Me and Janet found a mirror person quicker than you, and we weren't even trying to find one in the first place."

"Beginner's luck," Brenda insisted.

"No, we're not beginners at catching mirror people no matter how you put it," David said, struggling against his restraints, "But we are naturally superior when it comes to deducing who is a mirror person or not. After all, we've already found another mirror person."

David's eyes widened as he realized he'd revealed another secret.

Before Brenda could respond, David shouted, "I'm not telling you who the second mirror person is, so don't bother trying to get me to spill!"

"Fine then," Brenda said. "But if you excuse me…" She walked past David towards the door.

"Where are you going?!" David shouted, attempting to free himself. "What are you planning to do?"

"I'm going to go find some proof about your little Sam superstition," Brenda said. "Then once I reveal it to the authorities, my family will become famous, and my parents will finally notice me!"

"What do you mean, your parents will finally notice you?" David asked.

"That is one secret I'm not revealing too soon!" Brenda said bluntly and took off out of the room. The moment she was gone, David began to struggle even harder on the ropes to free himself. Eventually, he managed to grab the end of the rope with his free hand and began to slowly untie himself.

"Almost there…got it!" David said triumphantly as he freed himself from the ropes. Getting out of the chair, he said to himself, "Now to go find my sister before Brenda does something stupid!"

* * *

Brenda was already downstairs and bolted into the kitchen, where Bob and Mary were, as usual, insulting Felix and Agatha.

"Why did the chicken cross the road?" Mary asked. Felix and Agatha shrugged.

"To shoot Felix!" Bob finished as he and Mary laughed. However, Brenda interrupted them.

"Mom, dad, I need to tell you something about that hobo that lives in the forest," She claimed, tapping her parents on the shoulders.

"Not now, Brenda, we're making witty banter," Bob said, brushing Brenda off.

"But dad, it's important," Brenda insisted, gritting her teeth.

"Tell us later," Mary said, gesturing with her hand. Brenda groaned in frustration and exited the kitchen and abandoned the house.

"Gosh, our daughter can get a little annoying at times," Mary groaned.

"Good thing we managed to set up that play date to get her out of the way for a while," Bob replied. Felix and Agatha, who were listening, blinked a bit.

"Wait, what did you say about setting up the play date?" Felix said, his eye twitching.

"Oh, well, we needed some way to get Brenda occupied so we orchestrated this play date so she could hang out with your kids so we could have some fun," Mary explained cheerfully.

"But you said months ago you wanted your daughter to have friends," Agatha said, folding her arms. "And since David and Janet were her closest acquaintances, it would make sense to have these routine play dates."

"Oh we do, we just wanted it so she couldn't bother us," Bob said.

"So we had to suffer all this time for no reason other than that you thought your daughter was a burden?" Agatha correctly guessed. Bob and Mary shrugged, then nodded.

"Hey, what's with those evil looks on your faces?" Bob asked when he noticed the sinister glare on Felix and Agatha's faces.

* * *

The window of the kitchen was smashed open as Bob's body went crashing outside and onto the driveway of the Barret's house. He lay on the house, groaning in pain, feeling a few of his bones were injured. Soon enough, his wife was defenestrated out another window as well.

"And never come back!" Felix and Agatha both shouted at the injured Collins, then left the kitchen in a huff.

Bob and Mary lay on the ground, groaning in pain. "I think…they've officially ended…the play dates." Bob clarified before passing out, along with Mary.

* * *

Sam and Janet had taken off into the forest, near the area where Sam's mirror was hidden. They stopped to take breaths after fleeing from the house.

"You know, I feel kind of bad about abandoning your brother like that," Sam said guiltily, as he struggled to regain his breath.

"Trust me, I'm sure he can handle himself," Janet replied unaware of how wrong she was. "David's my older brother, I think he can deal with some brat."

The two kids regained their posture.

"Sam, I noticed that hours ago, you seemed to panic a bit when we mentioned Lizzy," Janet pointed out. "When we talked about her hitting David, and you acted like this happens on a daily basis or something."

Sam suddenly got nervous. "It's…complicated," Was all he got out.

"What do you mean?" Janet asked, intrigued.

"Well, when you have to put up with looking after Bella for so long, it can make someone a bit…temperamental," Sam insisted. "But you don't have to worry about it."

"Sam, we've only known each other for a few days, but I need to know if you're in trouble or something," Janet responded, worried.

"Hey, I can take care of myself," Sam asserted, and conjured a small fireball. "You see?"

Before Janet could respond, a voice called out, saying, "A-HA!"

Sam and Janet spun around to see Brenda holding a camera. Instinctively, Sam threw the fireball away, which burnt a small flower.

"I knew you were a mirror person!" Brenda claimed. "Now I just need some proof!" She aimed the camera at Sam.

Sam, however, reverted into his blonde disguise. "Let's see you get proof when I look normal, miss snarker," He insisted.

Brenda lowered the camera. "Oh, I have a way!" She said. "Janet told me one thing about Mirror People, and I've remembered it!" She advanced towards Sam, but Janet blocked her.

"Don't you dare touch him!" Janet shouted. Brenda pushed Janet out of the way and grabbed Sam by the arm. He initially raised his arm to strike, but Brenda simply said, "You wouldn't dare attack me. I'll just tell on you and you'll be in even bigger trouble!"

Sam, realizing the futility of the situation, was dragged off by Brenda as Janet followed.

The three arrived at a small lake, where Brenda pushed Sam towards the water. "So, you have a living blue reflection, it appears!" Brenda said. "This will prove it!"

She held Sam over the lake, and just as Brenda had predicted, Sam's reflection materialized in the lake. His reflection was crystal blue, and he was wearing a light blue shirt. The moment the reflection in the water noticed what was happening, his face contorted into horror.

Janet gasped, and even Brenda was in shock. However, a smile formed on her face and she pulled out a camera.

"Now I can finally prove this phenomenon!" Brenda said, and aimed the camera at the reflection to take a snapshot.


	27. Brenda's Confession

Brenda took a camera out of her jacket pocket and aimed at Sam's blue reflection in the water. However, she and Sam heard Janet shout out, "No!"

Before Brenda could turn around, Janet tackled Brenda, who dropped the camera. The two girls crashed on the ground and started wrestling with each other. Sam stared in shock for a moment, then dove in and attempted to pry the two apart.

Janet managed to free herself and grabbed the camera off the ground. By now, since Sam had stepped away from the lake, his reflection was gone. Brenda jumped to her feet.

"Give me back my camera!" Brenda shouted at the two. However, Sam and Janet stood together in front of her.

"You'll have to go through us to get it," Janet hissed, raising the camera. "We won't let you take it!"

Brenda groaned in exasperation, but before she could respond, David suddenly arrived, pushing Brenda to the ground. "Get away from my sister!" He shouted at a shocked Brenda. Sam and Janet jumped back.

"Go, get out of here!" David said, turning to Sam and Janet. "You have to warn Iz...your sister," David said before correcting himself. He didn't want Brenda to find out Izzy was a mirror person too.

"But shouldn't we stay and-" Janet started but David just had to glare at her for Janet to reconsider. "Let's go," She said, grabbing Sam by the arm and running off towards the forest. The moment they were gone, David turned to Brenda.

"Okay Brenda, you have to swear you won't tell anyone about Sam," David threatened. He realized Brenda wasn't going to listen, but it was worth a try. However, he did not anticipate Brenda grabbing a long, bendy twig and tying them around his arms.

"Hey, what are you doing?!" David asked in alarm. Brenda didn't respond and finished tying his arms.

"There, that ought to hold you!" Brenda said. She looked around to pick up the camera, but Janet had taken it.

"What are you going to do now?" David asked. Brenda turned towards David. She was wondering whether she should go after Sam and Janet, or tell someone else first. Ultimately, she decided with the latter.

"I'm going to a police station to tell someone of that creep and your sister," Brenda notified David. "In case something goes wrong if I go after them myself."

David stifled a scoff. "That isn't going to work," He sneered. Brenda glared and stomped off through the forest as David followed her, fully confident.

"You know, you said something about wanting your parents to notice you," David inquired, trying to sound casual despite the situation. "What do you mean by that?"

Brenda shrugged, but didn't give an answer. She simply continued through the forest and towards the nearest police station.

"Seriously, you're not going to answer me," David groaned. "Hey, I had to reveal a secret to you, why not you reveal something to me to make us even."

"We are not and never will be even," Brenda replied coldly. The two finally reached the police station.

"Wait out here," Brenda commanded David, who scoffed in respond. "No way, I got to see this," David said. Brenda's eye twitched, but she nevertheless sighed and allowed David to follow her into the station.

A rookie cop sat at a desk when the two children arrived. "Officer, I need to report something," Brenda said to the cop.

"How did you get here?" The cop groaned, obviously in a bad mood.

"Never mind that, but it's important," Brenda insisted. The cop rolled his eyes and said, "Fine, what is it?"

"I think one of the kids in the city is a mirror person," Brenda said. The cop's eyes opened a bit. "A mirror person?" He said, bewildered. "You no, I've received calls from people claying they've seen werewolves, zombies, and vampires, but for a city that relies so heavily on mirror people sightings, few people seem to want to report it."

"Yeah, but I think you should get a team out to apprehend the kid," Brenda said.

"Well what's his name," The cop asked. Brenda paused a bit as she struggled to remember what Sam's name was. David smirked silently to himself.

"I think his name was Sam," Brenda said. "Last name?" The cop asked. Brenda bit her lips and shifted her eyes.

"I, uh, don't know," She admitted. David struggled to contain his laughter at this. Brenda noticed him and gave him a shove.

"Well, if you don't know his name, then there's a problem here," The cop said. "I'll see if I can get my superiors on this case of yours, but that's all. You're dismissed."

The look on Brenda's face caused David to break out laughing. It abruptly came to a stop as Brenda gripped David by the ear and hauled him out of the police station. Once they were outside, David whispered, "Things not working out for you, huh?"

Brenda threw David to the ground. "You three just got lucky," Brenda said. "You think you can hide his secret forever?"

At this point, David was beginning to loosen the twig around his arms. After freeing himself, he got to his feet and approached Brenda.

"I'll prove Sam's little secret eventually," Brenda declared. "And when I do, I'll be-" Brenda was cut off when David grabbed her fist and slammed it into her face. She stumbled backwards in shock, clutching her mouth.

"That was for emotionally tormenting my sister," David said. As Brenda rubbed her nose, David asked, "Now, explain to me, what is this about your parents?"

"Haven't you noticed?" Brenda asked. "You think my parents agree to these play dates because they genuinely want us to be friends, even though that is clearly implausible?"

"I just thought they were dumb," David replied.

"No, they just want to distract me," Brenda said. "After the first few play dates, I realized the only reason they kept insisting that I befriend a loser like you is because they don't want to deal with me."

David didn't respond. He was trying to think things over at the moment.

"Us being friends could never work, and they know it," Brenda said. "But because they don't know where Izzy lives, and they're too lazy to go find anyone else, they just keep throwing us together, hoping I'll temporarily be out of their lives."

David was beginning to feel cheated; not by Brenda, but by her parents.

"So, if I manage to prove that a mirror person exists, then that will definitely get them to see how special I am," Brenda said. "Then they'll recognize me, and I'll be free from these play dates with you." She hissed the last word.

David took a moment to reply. "Is that it?" He asked.

Brenda was confused. "What do you mean?" She asked.

"That is why you did all those stuff?" David asked. "You've been hassling me and my sister for nearly two years, you made my sister dress in inappropriate clothing, you tormented Sam for no reason, and now you tell me it's because you want your parents recognition?"

Brenda didn't respond.

"You're angry at your parents, but take it out on everyone else," David admonished angrily. "That's hypocritical and selfish."

He stomped away from Brenda. "And now, because of you, a boy who doesn't even have parents is in danger of being exposed," He berated. "Did that ever occur to you while you were trying to expose his little secret?"

Brenda's mouth hung open, but she still didn't utter a word. David shook his head in disgust.

"I'm going to find my sister and Sam, and then I'm going to tell my sister and how cruel you really are," David explained. "Then, she'll see you for who you really are! Goodbye!" With that, David vanished into the forest, leaving Brenda trembling at the police station.


	28. The Mirror

In the time that David and Brenda had gone to the police station, followed by Brenda's confession to David, Sam and Janet had taken way longer than it should have to reach the mirror.

"Oh boy, this is bad," Sam whispered quietly to himself as he cut through the forest, Janet trailing behind. "When Mirror Isabella finds out that Brenda knows my secret, she'll…she'll…"

"She'll what?" Janet asked, taking up speed to catch up to Sam. "Your sister doesn't seem like a bad person. I'm sure she won't overreact."

"Speak for yourself," Sam responded. "My sister isn't usually like that." By now, the two kids had reached the tree where the mirror rested against. Brushing the branches out of the way, Sam prepared to enter.

"Um, Sam?" Janet said as Sam turned to face her. "About Lizzy."

"What about her?" Sam asked impatiently. "Remember, we don't have a lot of time."

"Does she get violent occasionally, or a lot?" Janet asked. At the question, Sam's muscles tensed and he gained a nervous expression.

"What would make you ask that?" He mumbled, shifting his eyes.

"Well, she hit David, and you didn't seem all that concerned, and you said that she gets like that, sometimes," Janet recalled.

Sam bit his lower lip, anxiety beginning to take over. "It's uh, complicated," Sam replied before trying to change the subject. "I should just be going to find Mirror Isabella now."

"Sam, if something is happening you should tell me," Janet insisted. "I want to help you."

"It's no big deal, okay!" Sam shouted unexpectedly, taking Janet aback. "If I don't want to talk about something, I don't want to talk about it! Don't stick your nose into it!" Sam was breathing heavily, sweat visible on his forehead and his shoulders were bunched up.

Janet's eyes were wide open in shock, and her mouth was hanging open a bit. Her nails dug into her face as she tried to comprehend Sam's sudden change in tone. After a while, both children calmed down a bit.

"I…I'm sorry Janet," Sam apologized, still breathing heavily. "I didn't mean to." Janet still had a look of shock on her face, but after a moment breathed in relief and walked over towards the mirror. Sam noticed a hint of anger in Janet's eyes as she passed by him.

"Come on, let's go find your sister," Janet said, her voice colder than usually. Sam glanced away, somewhat ashamed, as Janet slipped into the mirror. Sam soon followed afterwards.

The moment they were in the Mirror dimension, Sam whispered to Janet, "Stay here while I go find my sister." With that, he set off to look for Mirror Isabella. The moment he was gone, Janet scoffed.

"Stay here?" She said, taken aback. "In this dull room. No way, I want to go and explore." With that, she pushed the door open and ran off down the hallway.

* * *

Mirror Isabella was in her regular domicile, separated far from the residence where Sam lived. The house in which she resided in resembled a miniature apartment, despite the fact that she was technically the only one who lived there. The domicile lay near a massive shiny blue lake and a massive forest, which was filled with blue and black trees.

Mirror Isabella paced around one of the rooms in her house, her nails digging into her forehead roughly. She was wearing a new attire, heavily resembling Isabella's signature clothing. However, her shirt was blue and she was also wearing striped blue and black tights under a black skirt.

Her nails were clawing down her forehead as she thought to herself, trying to remember recent events.

"I saw those two kids before," She whispered to herself. "A few days ago. I was on a road, and I saw two figures come near me and then…" Mirror Isabella's eyes burst open in shock as she remembered.

"I know where I saw them!" She shouted. "Those were the kids I knocked unconscious on the road. That must've been where Samson met them." Her fingernails lowered themselves towards her teeth.

"This is bad," She mumbled nervously. "Samson seems attached to that girl, Janet, and somehow…it's like they're…"

Mirror Isabella slapped herself in the face to regain her composure. "Okay, I have to be calm, I have a presentation for my friends soon…"

_"Oh, Mirror Isabella…"_ A hushed, whispery voice called out.

Mirror Isabella gasped a bit as she recognized the voice. She clutched her head in an attempt to block it out. "Don't talk to me," She hissed. "Get out."

_"Oh, Mirror Isabella, aren't you glad to hear me again?"_ The voice asked, sounding hurt.

"This isn't the right time, okay," Mirror Isabella replied angrily. "Go, get out now!"

_"I hear little Sam has a new friend. What was her name, Janet, you say."_

"It's none of your business," Mirror Isabella hissed as she turned to look at herself in one of her mirrors hanging on the wall.

_"Oh Mirror Isabella, don't be scared."_

"I am NOT scared!" Mirror Isabella shouted angrily. "You just popped up at the worst time."

_"Oh, but I know you are. You're scared that Sam has gotten a new friend."_

"Why should I concern myself with that girl?" Mirror Isabella asked. "Who would ever be scared of her?" She turned up her nose and closed her eyes, smirking in an attempt to seem confident.

_"You're scared that Sam has a new acquaintance. A 'buddy'. Just one more reason for why he won't want to see you again."_

"It's us he'll choose," Mirror Isabella insisted. "It'll always be us. Sam would never choose a friend over his own family." But even as she said those words, she felt herself tense up at the thought.

_"Are you sure? He asked to leave to spent time with them instead of staying with us. What does that have to tell you?"_

Mirror Isabella opened her eyes a bit. "What are you getting at?" She asked.

_"Don't you remember that little girl, Mirror Isabella? The one who lived in the orphanage."_

"Shut up," Mirror Isabella snapped, glaring at her reflection in the mirror.

_"We both remember how mystified you were when Sam became friends with that girl. He spent less time here with you and more time outside in that wretched building!"_

"I said shut up!" Mirror Isabella repeated.

_"It got you mad, didn't it. And so afraid. Look at you, scared of a harmless orphan girl."_

"Quit it," Mirror Isabella said, folding her arms.

_"You got so mad and scared, didn't you. And when you got mad and scared…zap."_

At that point, Mirror Isabella lost it. Screaming angrily, she grabbed the mirror with both hands and hurtled it across the room. It clattered against the wall and shattered into millions of pieces, showering Mirror Isabella in glass. The girl was breathing angrily, her hands balled into fists and her eyes glimmering.

Suddenly, she heard a knock on the door. Widening her eyes in shock, Mirror Isabella soared towards the door and threw it open to reveal to reflection girls. The first resembled a Goth, with black hair, nails, and lips, and the second was dressed as a ballerina.

"Mirror Ophelia, Mirror Pandora, what are you girls doing here?" Mirror Isabella asked the two, trying to look calm.

"You told us to come here, remember," Mirror Ophelia, the Goth reflection, reminded. Mirror Pamela glanced behind Mirror Isabella and noticed the glass shards on the ground.

"Oh Mirror Isabella, you didn't break ANOTHER mirror, did you?" Mirror Pandora asked, exasperated.

Mirror Isabella made an awkward expression and then changed the subject. "I'm just going through a phase, alright, and besides, I brought you here for a reason." Doing a somersault towards a desk, Mirror Isabella pulled out a small blue mirror.

Mirror Ophelia squinted her eyes at it. "You had us fly a whole mile to your house because you got a new mirror?" She said angrily. Motioning with her hand towards Mirror Pandora, she said, "Come on, let's go."

"Wait, wait, that's not it!" Mirror Isabella said, running over and grasping both of them by the arm.

"What do you want?" Mirror Ophelia asked. "After all, I have a curfew in about two hours."

"Okay girls, you know me better than to bring you here to show off some mirror," Mirror Isabella explained, leading the girls outside while clutching the mirror.

"Well, what do you want us for?" Mirror Ophelia asked. Mirror Isabella smirked and raised the mirror towards a rather large rock near the house.

"Watch this," Mirror Isabella said and a blue beam shot out of the mirror and engulfed the rock. The rock was totally obscured and was sucked into the mirror instantly. The two other reflections gasped.

"I made this mirror a few days ago," Mirror Isabella explained proudly. "It can suck anything I see inside of it."

"Oh, cool!" Mirror Pandora whispered excitedly and instinctively poked a finger at the shiny mirror. "Hey, don't touch it!" Mirror Isabella exclaimed, but it was too late. A bright light illuminated the mirror and the rock was shot out of the mirror and landed several feet away.

Mirror Isabella's hand shot out and smacked Mirror Pandora across the face, knocking her backwards. "I told you not to touch it!" Mirror Isabella shouted angrily. "The mirror has some weird side-effect. If a mirror person touches the surface of the reflection, whatever I've placed inside the mirror gets released."

"Oh," Both mirror girls said flatly. Before Mirror Isabella could talk further, the three saw Sam running at a fast pace towards them.

"Oh, it's your brother," Mirror Ophelia said. Mirror Isabella motioned for the two girls to leave. "I'll talk with you later," Mirror Isabella stated and turned to face Sam as he arrived.

"Mirror Isabella, I need to tell you something!" Sam exclaimed urgently. "It has to do with Bella's friend, Brenda!"

"What about that loser?" Mirror Isabella asked, placing her hands on her hips.

"Something happened at David and Janet's house, and she knows about my powers!" Sam cried out. At that moment, Mirror Isabella dropped the mirror in shock.

"She what?!" The girl shouted in a mixture of anger and anxiety.


	29. Friends or Family

"She what?!"

Sam's pupils shrunk a bit and he started trembling. He was used to Mirror Isabella getting angry at him, but at that point, for some reason, he felt much for fearful. However, he realized trying to sugar-coat things to her would enrage her even more, so he had to be straightforward.

"Brenda Collins came over for dinner or something, and she found out I was with them, and I ran away with Janet, but she caught up with us and she took a picture of Mirror Samson in the river," Sam reluctantly explained and then shut his eyes, awaiting whatever Mirror Isabella was going to do to him in response.

After a few moments passed and he noticed that no blow had come, Sam slowly opened his eyes to see Mirror Isabella staring off into space. For a few moments, Sam saw her eyes darken. And not figuratively, her eyes literally went black for a few moments before returning to its regular shade.

Mirror Isabella turned to Sam with a mixture of horror and idealization on her face. Sam didn't like that look; every time Mirror Isabella had that look on her face it meant she was planning something, something which he usually wouldn't like.

"Oh dear, Brenda found out our secret!" Mirror Isabella cried, placing her hands over her eyes. "That means she'll tell others our secret, and everyone will want to try and capture you!"

"I know, but what are we going to do?" Sam asked nervously.

"We should leave, right now!" Mirror Isabella abruptly suggested. "Well get Bella and Mirror Samson and go over to Pandora's place to stay."

Sam's face went blank. Had it been a week ago, before he had met Janet and David, he would of instantly agreed to this. Not only was Mirror Isabella his older sister, but nearly everyone who knew him thought he was a hobo and a freak, and he knew very well what would happen if Brenda told anyone his secret. So what was the point of staying?

But, alas, it wasn't a week ago. By now, he had not only met Janet, who had quickly accepted him and his abilities, but had also formed a friendship with him. And now Sam felt that he couldn't leave her.

"Uh, I'm sorry Mirror Isabella, we can't go," Sam quickly stated. The expression on Mirror Isabella's face changed. Previously she wore a look of anticipated glee, awaiting Sam's answer, but now she looked dumbstruck and confused.

"What, do you mean, we can't go?" Mirror Isabella asked. "Pandora would gladly let us stay with her family. And nobody likes you in that dumb city anyways, why stay?"

Sam shifted his eyes nervously. "It's just, things have been a little better for me these last few days," Sam explained. The moment he said those words he realized he should of rephrased them better.

Mirror Isabella narrowed her eyes at Sam and glared down at him, burrowing into his soul. "Oh, things have been better for you these last few days, you say?" She hissed at him. "After all, your worst enemy has just found out your secret, and could expose it to the whole city. Things have become a whole lot better!"

"It's not that, it's just..." Sam didn't know how to explain things to his sister without vexing her even more, so he stopped talking to await Mirror Isabella's response.

Mirror Isabella's eyes widened as realization dawned upon her. "Oh, I see," She said angrily. "You've stayed with that Barret family and now you like them better than your real family!"

"No, that's not it!" Sam shouted but he realized Mirror Isabella wasn't listening.

"You've become friends with that precious little girl and you don't want to part with her!" Mirror Isabella accused. "And you'll put your brother and sisters in danger just to stay with her!"

"No, I don't want to put you in danger!" Sam argued back. Mirror Isabella gripped his shoulders and began shaking him.

"Then what are you waiting for?" Mirror Isabella asked. "Come with us, and we can forget that Brenda found out about your powers!"

Sam gritted his teeth in pain and fear. Mirror Isabella's nails were beginning to needle into his skin. Her bright blue eyes now looked cold and apathetic as she stared into his own eyes.

"Why would you need to stay in the city?" She asked. "Everything you need is with ME and your siblings!"

"I know but-" Sam started but was cut off.

"You're a mirror person, Samson Crystal, and you belong in the Mirror Dimension!" Mirror Isabella shouted, squeezing Sam's arms.

"Stop it!" Sam shouted, freeing himself from Mirror Isabella's grasp. Before she could say anything more, he flew off away from Mirror Isabella's house. He didn't know where he was going, he just had to get away from her.

Mirror Isabella remained at her house, staring at Sam as he slowly disappeared from view.

"_I told you his friendship with that girl would lead to trouble." _

Mirror Isabella grimaced. The voice was back. But this time, she didn't feel like fighting it off. Her eyes went black again, but this time, they didn't revert back to her regular color.

* * *

David ran off through the forest towards the mirror. Since leaving Brenda, he had taken off to find his sister and Sam and see if they were okay.

He had only been led to the mirror once, but he had already pinpointed its location. Soon enough, he found it lying next to the tree.

Pushing the branches off the mirror, David dove inside the mirror and landed in the Mirror dimension. Getting to his feet, he looked around, trying to find any sign of where Janet or Sam had ran off to.

"Janet? Sam?" He shouted. When he received no answer, he pushed open the door leading to the hallway and ran through it. The hallway seemed bigger now, and David noticed a few pathways he hadn't seen on his first visit.

"Where are you, Janet?!" David shouted again, but received no answer once more. He pushed open one door, and found himself in a large room with a stage. He noticed some black and blue balloons floating around, along with some ribbons.

"Looks like somebody's holding a party soon," David commented. However, he found no trace of Janet there so he lost interest and was about to leave when he heard a rustling sound.

"Janet?" He whispered hopefully. Turning back, he re-entered the room to find the source of the sound. He soon found himself standing in front of a pile of boxes. The rustling sound grew louder and the boxes started shaking.

"Um…" David said and began to back off, realizing whatever was behind the boxes wasn't Janet.

However, he wasn't quick enough.

The boxes were smashes away and two small woodpeckers zoomed out towards David. One second before the birds collided with him, David noticed that while one woodpecker looked normal, the other was a blue counterpart to it.

David screamed in shock as the two woodpeckers tackled him to the ground with shocking strength. David was slammed onto his back and the two woodpeckers began pecking at his skin and ripping his clothing.

"No, stop!" David shouted, but the woodpeckers continued pecking and ripping at him. Occasionally, one of the birds would pick him up and toss him a few feet with his beak.

David soon found himself on his stomach as the woodpeckers began dragging him around. However, before the birds could continue their assault, a blue beam was fired out at the birds, accompanied by a familiar voice shouting, "Get away from him, you stupid birds!"

Instantly, the birds flew off and vanished, leaving a bruised and cut David on the floor. "Worst day ever," He groaned. He then got up and looked around to see who had rescued him. His eyes soon landed on his saviour.

David's eyes widened in shock as he found himself staring face-to-face with Samson's reflection, who was similarly baffled.

"Well, this day just got a whole more awkward," Mirror Samson muttered.


	30. Mirror Samson

David stared at Mirror Samson in shock. Ever since he had first met Mirror Isabella, in the back of his mind, he had wondered what it would be like to meet Sam's own reflection, and what his demeanour would be like.

Mirror Samson had his arms folded across his chest. He was, of course, the same size and height as the real Sam. His skin was a crystal blue not unlike that of Mirror Isabella, and he had shiny blue hair. His blue eyes shown brighter than the real Sam's. Currently, he was wearing a light blue pyjamas with a giant blue star in the middle of his shirt.

"Who are you?" Mirror Samson asked, narrowing his eyes at David. "I've seen you before, I know it."

"I'm David Barret, and I'm having a bad day," David introduced bluntly. "Seriously, what was that a few seconds ago?"

"Oh, those mirror woodpeckers?" Mirror Samson said. "They belong to my sister. She put them in this room to keep strangers out until the party."

"Wait, there are mirror woodpeckers?" David asked, astounded. "I thought there were only mirror people."

"Bull," Mirror Samson replied, rolling his eyes. "You think only mirror people live in the Mirror Dimension. Man, you Earth-dimension people are dumb."

David narrowed his eyes, angered at the insult. "Hey, nobody ever mentioned there were other creatures in the Mirror Dimension," He defended.

"There are mirror dogs, mirror birds, mirror cats…" Mirror Samson pointed out. "Like, in your dimension, but better. We have superpowers."

"Yeah, I know," David said, brushing the dirt off his shirt. "Sam has made that more than clear."

"Hey, I know you," Mirror Samson said, squinting his eyes at David. "You're the kid that saw me and Samson at the hospital!"

David shifted his eyes, remembering how shocked he was when he saw Sam talking to his reflection those few days ago. "Oh yeah, that," David said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head.

Suddenly, Mirror Samson shifted his tone towards David. "What did you do to my brother?" Mirror Samson asked. Before David could answer, Mirror Samson vanished and reappeared him.

"You must've abducted him and forced him to show you the Mirror dimension," He accused, placing a cold hand on David's shoulder.

"No, he did it willingly," David sputtered.

"Are you saying I'm stupid?" Mirror Samson asked, releasing his hold on David. "I know Samson, and he would not lead you here unless you did something awful to do so."

David sighed. "Look, your brother and I may have had a rough start, but me and my sister grew on him and he led us to the Mirror dimension…"

Mirror Samson scoffed. "Sam hasn't had someone 'grow on him' in two years," He replied. "And let me tell you, it didn't end well. He wouldn't let it happen again."

"Wait, what happened two years ago?" David asked. It was then that he had remembered what Sam had told him and Janet about how Mirror Samson had attacked Amanda.

Stumbling backwards, David gasped. "I remember now," He said, moving farther away from Mirror Samson, who looked confused.

"Remember what?" Mirror Samson asked, moving towards David.

"You attacked Amanda, and she's probably dead now!" David spat out at the reflection. At that, Mirror Samson's face went blank for a few moments. David eased up a bit and glanced at the dull-faced reflection.

"…Amanda?" Mirror Samson choked out. "I…how did you…"

"Samson told me all about it!" David continued angrily. "Amanda was friends with your brother, and you didn't like her. So you attacked her, and she was sent to the hospital, and she probably died from the injuries she sustained!"

Mirror Samson glanced at the ground, trying to comprehend what David was telling him. "Sam was your brother," David admonished. "How could you do something like that to him?"

Mirror Samson gave an unearthly scream and lunged at David, who jumped backwards in shock. However, Mirror Samson paused and collapsed onto his knees a few inches in front of David, his face buried in his hands. It took David a moment to realize he was crying.

"Oh Amanda," He sobbed.

"Um, Mirror Samson," David said, uncertain and fearful. Mirror Samson raised his head to look at David, who noticed that there were tears in his eyes.

"I liked Amanda," He confessed. "She was a good person, and she made my brother happy. Why would I…why would I do such a thing?"

David was about to respond, but Mirror Samson's features twisted into anger.

"How could you accuse me of doing something like that to an innocent person, especially when it would hurt my brother?" He hissed, clenching his fists.

"Hey, that's what Sam said…" David argued.

"You believed him?!" Mirror Samson shouted, grabbing David by the arm and shaking him. "Are you Earth-dimension people out of your minds!"

He released David, who was still shaking. "Well then, what happened?" He asked, his teeth chattering.

Mirror Samson paused and looked away from Sam. "I can't tell you," He said. At that point, a mist began to surround him.

"Hey, what are you doing?" David asked.

"I've already revealed too much…" Mirror Samson whispered before being concealed by the mist. David instantly pounced into the mist, but jumped right through it, landing on the ground with a hard thud. The mist evaporated, and nobody was to be found.

David got to his feet. "Hey, where are you?" He shouted, but received no answer. "What are you talking about? What happened to Amanda?"

Out of the corner of David's eye, he noticed Mirror Isabella pass by the open door of the large room. She didn't notice David as she walked pass.

"Mirror Isabella…" David whispered. "She must know what happened to her." With that, David took off towards the door to catch up with Mirror Isabella.


	31. Mirror Isabella's POV

_AlecReyes19: You'd be surprised at just how similar the Mirror dimension is to the real world. In fact, that's exactly my intention to portray how similar the two worlds are._

_A-Plus Cassiopeia: Mirror Samson basically reflects Sam's original attitude. So, the stuff that comes out of his mouth are stuff Sam would've said before he met Janet and started to change._

_BookMast3r: Oh, if only they had talked about things. And, face it, it would be rather odd if ONLY Mirror humans lived in the Mirror dimension. _

_With that said, let's move on._

**(Bonus Scene: Mirror Isabella's POV)**

My brain was totally clogged up, like when your nose gets…never mind that. So many things had happened these past couple of days and it was so hard to focus that it physically hurt. I felt like I was enduring a migraine

For the life of me, I couldn't get it. Why, oh why, had Samson Crystal fallen for that bog-headed louse. It was totally confusing. She wasn't pretty, at least to me, and since it's my opinion that makes it right. Her hair looked like it had mud stuck in it, and she was always blushing for some reason and it was disgusting. Her eyes were too big and she had such thick eyebrows. Yeah, my eyes were a little big too but it looks good on me, unlike her.

And what is with her clothing? She's dressed all in…I think Bella said its called pink or something, but it looks like a light red. It looks so awkward on her. Nothing like my clothes, which are stunning as well as match my skin tone. The louse has peach-coloured skin, so having pink clothing just doesn't match up.

On another subject, she has such a helpless-sounding and high-pitched voice and it totally grates on my nerves. I'd say it sounded cutesy but anything coming from her is anything BUT that. Sam is, what, her age and he sounds nothing like her.

And she is SO annoying. Bella has talked about her all the time and I figured she was a brat, but this is beyond that. I've only had one encounter with this shi…excuse me, shrimp, and she is already a contender for my non-existent 'People I Hate The Most' list. Along with Brenda Collins, even though I haven't met her yet.

Oh yeah, I bet you're wondering why I'm so high-strung about Samson and Janet "platonic" relationship (platonic my posteriors, that louse WILL make a move eventually) but I'm not concerned about Bella and Brenda's acquaintance. Well, there are two reasons.

One, Bella and Brenda are in their "two-digits" (that is, Bella's eleven and Brenda's ten, so two-digits in years) so they're more mature and rational than Sam and Janet, who still need to wait two years before they receive their two-digits.

As my friends Pandora and Ophelia told me, "Two-digits is better than one-digit", but don't quote me on that.

Second of all, experience. The last time Samson formed a bond with a girl, Amanda was her name, two years ago (why am I using so many twos now?), things ended BADLY. He showed her stuff that she shouldn't of seen, and she got curious, and…bam, we have to go and leave that stinking place. Bella made a lot of friends at that orphanage, but she new the limit. They knew about out powers, but not too much, and that was fine.

Samson brought Amanda into the Mirror dimension a few times. Sometimes, I really don't know what's going on in his head.

And now he's just showed Janet the Mirror dimension…eh, Daja Vu or something. But either way, I don't like it.

So, as this monologue can tell you, Janet SUCKS. Now I just have to find some way to convince her that she's a worthless pile of feces. I'm not going to KILL her, I'm not a psycho, but that brat needs to be taught a lesson.

And…what the…is that HER? Speak of the devil, she's right there in front of me in the corridors of Sam's building. I'm looking closer, and she's…wait, is she feeding my woodpeckers? What is up with that? Doesn't she know they hate kids, except for me and Bella. Uh, she is getting on my nerves. I have GOT to get her and her brother out of here.

Oh yeah, almost forgot about her brother. I hate him too.

**(End POV)**

* * *

Janet, as the POV had already explained, was sitting down of the smooth ground, the two mirror woodpeckers who had previously beaten up David standing on her folded legs, chirping happily.

"Oh, aren't they adorable?" Janet said to nobody in particular. Holding out some bird seeds she had somehow gotten her hands on, she watched as the woodpeckers began eating it up quickly.

The reflection woodpecker accidentally poked Janet's arm cast, causing the girl to flinch a bit. During the last few days, Janet's arm had healed a bit after her encounter with the rabid dog, but it still hurt if touched a little too roughly. Nevertheless, she acted like it didn't hurt and allowed the woodpeckers too finish eating.

"You want some more food?" She asked politely. The woodpeckers, apparently understanding her, nodded a bit and Janet scooped more bird seeds from the small pile next to her.

"What are you doing to my birds?"

Janet instantly recognized Mirror Isabella's voice. She had only spoken to the reflection girl on one occasion, but Janet could recognize anyone's voice no matter how little they spoke, something she didn't dwell on too much.

However, she did notice something was a bit off. The last time she heard Mirror Isabella speak, she had a rather sarcastic and dry feeling to it. Now, however, Janet thought she sensed contempt and disgust in Mirror Isabella's voice, and it unnerved her.

However, she didn't want to disrespect Mirror Isabella so she slowly got to her feet and turned to face Mirror Isabella. The reflection girl was a foot taller than her so Janet had to raise her head high to look at her.

"Uh, greetings Mirror Isabella," Janet quickly greeted and did an attempt at a curtsey, but just looked odd. Mirror Isabella sighed loudly and folded her arms over her chest. Janet tried not to let that bother her and resumed facing her.

"I found your woodpeckers and they seemed hungry, so I just decided to, feed them..." Janet stuttered out, twiddling her fingers and looking away. She hoped Mirror Isabella would be grateful.

Instead, Mirror Isabella placed one finger on Janet's cheek and slowly jerked her head to face her again. "Janet," She said, speaking as if Janet was a five-year-old, "Did it ever occur to her that maybe you should have left those woodpeckers ALONE?"

Janet shrugged. "They looked unhappy and starved," She defended, gesturing to the woodpeckers, who were currently picking at the bird seeds.

"Maybe there's a reason for that?" Mirror Isabella said. "Hey, maybe I kept them on guard to protect my gym room for my upcoming party, in case someone came in to vandalize the place, and not feeding them was just a way to get them in the mood to defend the place?"

Janet gulped. "I didn't think of that," She muttered pathetically.

"No you don't think, do you?" Mirror Isabella snapped, tapping Janet on the forehead. "You just do what you want to do, not listening to reason or being concerned for anyone else!"

Janet flinched at Mirror Isabella's sudden shift in tone. "I'm sorry," She apologized. "I won't do it again!"

"Are you sure, Janet?" Mirror Isabella hissed at the younger girl. "You're so airheaded, you'll probably forget what you said in a few hours, if not a few minutes!" She shoved Janet a few inches.

Now Janet got upset herself. "I said I was sorry, okay!" She shouted and pushed Mirror Isabella away. Mirror Isabella instantly caught herself, gritted her teeth, and flung herself forward and struck Janet across the face with a closed fist.

Time seemed to slow down for Janet. The blow had caught her completely off-guard, and she felt incredibly light-headed. She knew Mirror people were stronger than the average human, but Mirror Isabella's blow hit her so hard she felt her skull had leaped out of her skin.

With a heavy thud, Janet crashed onto the ground like a rag doll. She looked unconscious, but was totally awake, and could feel some blood trickling down her nose. Her eyes were wide open in shock and dizziness.

Mirror Isabella roughly jerked Janet off the ground and held her a few feet off the ground for a few moments. "Don't you ever put your filthy hands on me again, you dirtbag!" She spat out into Janet's face.

If Janet hadn't been so shell-shocked by getting struck by Mirror Isabella, she might have laughed. Mirror Isabella looked so proper and fancy, in stark contrast to the real Isabella, that hearing these immature words fly out of her mouth seemed so odd. But, given the circumstances, Janet felt incredibly hurt.

Mirror Isabella scoffed when she saw a few tears in Janet's eyes. "Oh, if you're going to cry at that, I wonder what will happen if I do this." She transformed her hand into a blade.

Janet's heart seemed to stop. When Sam's hand turned into a crystal blade, it was cool because he was doing it to defend her. But Mirror Isabella's hand turning into a blade made Janet for afraid than when the rabid dog nearly killed her.

"What...what are you doing?" She whispered.

"You need to pay somehow for pushing me like that," Mirror Isabella sneered and aimed the blade at Janet's face.

"No, no," Janet whispered, trying to raise her arms a bit to try and plead, but she felt too weak. Mirror Isabella's blade neared Janet's face, and the girl shut her eyes to embrace herself for the pain.

Janet felt a swish of air fly past her fast, followed by a cutting sound. Janet opened her eyes in confusion. Mirror Isabella hadn't cut her skin?

However, moments later, Janet saw it. One of her pigtails dropped down the side of her head and landed on the ground softly. Janet breathed heavily, relieved that Mirror Isabella hadn't lacerated her skin but still incredibly humiliated at Mirror Isabella cutting her hair.

Mirror Isabella's blade swished past Janet's face and cut off her other pigtail. It dropped noiselessly on the ground as well, causing Janet to flinch in embarrassment.

"They were always ugly, especially on you," Mirror Isabella sneered and dropped the girl onto the ground like a toy. Janet fell on her stomach and slowly curled herself into a ball, sobbing a bit, her shortened hair concealing her face.

Mirror Isabella watched a few inches away, her arms folded across her chest. For one moment, her eyebrows raised and she felt a twinge of deprecation at herself for what she just did, but then she hardened her heart and watched with a stone-cold expression as Janet sobbed.

With a sneer, Mirror Isabella turned to leave, when she heard a voice.

"How dare you touch my sister!"

Before Mirror Isabella could react, David slammed himself into her, causing her to stagger backwards. Mirror Isabella was shocked, but even then she could calculate what had happened. David was going to try and talk to her about something, but instead stumbled upon her cutting Janet's pigtails off, and now he was pissed.

David shouted and lunged at Mirror Isabella again as Janet, who had just noticed what happened, began to scramble off the ground as the two older kids began to scuffle.

Mirror Isabella was stronger than David and quickly threw him on the ground roughly. David groaned in pain, his side hurting, but he shrugged it off. He was so angry that Mirror Isabella had hurt his sister, that all he could think of was hurting her back somehow.

As Mirror Isabella stood over him, David jumped up and swung his fist at her. He was aiming for her nose, but he was somewhat off-balanced and missed her face. Instead, his fist slammed right into her chest.

"AUGH!" Mirror Isabella screamed in complete agony and stumbled backwards, holding her chest. David, his clenched fist still outstretched, blushed a bit at what he just did. However humiliating, it proved effective as Mirror Isabella stumbled onto the ground, groaning in pain.

David lowered his arm, confused. Why had THAT hurt her so much? He figured she would've just shrugged it off. However, that thought left him when he saw Janet's cut pigtails on the ground, and Janet. dried tears on her cheeks, struggling to get up.

David ran over and grabbed Janet, hosting her to her feet. "Are you okay?" He asked his sister. Janet wiped her tears from her eyes and nodded a bit. Suddenly, the three heard Sam enter the corridors.

"What just happened?!" He shouted out. The first thing he saw was Mirror Isabella, rolling on the ground a bit, and then his eyes fell on David and Janet.

Sam narrowed his eyes at David; he knew Janet couldn't of done it, she was way too peaceful to have inflicted whatever had happened to Mirror Isabella.

"What happened?" He asked again in a stern voice.

David opened his mouth to speak, but Janet shushed him. "I fed Mirror Isabella's woodpeckers without her consent and she got upset at me and scolded me, and my brother came and got mad and he hit her. It's my fault, don't blame my brother, he was just defending me."

"No, she cut Janet's-" David started but Janet elbowed him. Mirror Isabella got to her feet.

"Samson Crystal, I need to speak to you...alone," She said, stressing the last word. Sam was too fearful to disagree and Mirror Isabella walked past him, Sam following her.

Soon, they reached Sam's bedroom, and Mirror Isabella flopped on the bed, sighing. Sam stood awkwardly at the door, awaiting whatever Mirror Isabella had to say.

"Look, don't get mad at Janet, okay," Sam pleaded before Mirror Isabella could say anything.

"You can stay a while longer," Mirror Isabella said bluntly, raising her hand.

Sam felt like he'd been punched in the face. "What?" He asked. "I can stay?"

"Yes, you seem to like those kids quick a bit," Mirror Isabella said, silently scoffing. "So, why not spend a bit more quality time with them, especially your girlfriend."

"We are just friends!" Sam hissed out. It was the truth, after all.

"Okay Sam, you want to be buddies with Earth-dimension people, be my guest," Mirror Isabella sneered, venom clear in her voice. "I'm not stopping you."

Sam felt a little unnerved. "You sure?" He asked. "Maybe I should stay with you, just in case."

"No, I insist you go with those Barrets," Mirror Isabelle sneered, managing a smile despite still feeling the pain from David's punch. She gave a glance towards Sam, one that told him that this was the end of the conversation.

Squinting his eyes, Sam left the room, not taking his eyes off of Mirror Isabella. He realized she was planning something, but he didn't know what.

Turning around, Sam ran off to find David and Janet.

"I have to defend those two," He whispered to himself to urge himself. "I have to."

* * *

_Well, that's the end of the chapter. R&amp;R._


	32. Hurt And Comfort

_AlecReyes19: Believe me, that's not even the half of it._

_A-Plus Cassiopeia: Yeah, I needed to find a way to get the readers to hate Mirror Isabella, because so far, all the hate was on Brenda, who wasn't really even a villain, just a brat._

_BookMast3r: Yeah, when you're fighting a supernatural person, anything goes, even cheap shots._

_With that said, let's continue._

* * *

After the fight, Sam had David and Mirror Isabella formally apologize to each other. However, by that it was actually David apologizing to Mirror Isabella, who simply nodded in forgiveness. After that, Sam, David and Janet left.

Sam and David passed through the dark forest, Janet lagging behind, her head lowered and her hands covering her severed ponytails.

"So, your sister is just letting you come back with us?" David asked, folding his arms. "Especially after I punched her in her…you know what."

"I'm just as confused," Sam said, glancing away from David for a moment as if to check if they were being followed. "However, Mirror Isabella practically forced me to come back with you guys."

"You think she's planning something?" He asked, rubbing his arm.

"I think so, which is why I feel I should go with you," Sam suggested. "To protect Janet and you. That, and she really seems to want me to go."

For some reason, both boys decided to glance around to check on Janet. Her skin was paler than usual, and her face had a mark where Mirror Isabella had struck her.

"Is she going to be alright?" Sam whispered to David, worried.

David rubbed the back of his head. "Knowing Janet, she'll bounce back easily," He reassured Sam and himself, but secretly he was even more concerned than Sam. The moment he had seen Mirror Isabella touch Janet, David had hated her more than he had Isabella or Brenda. He silently swore he would not let Mirror Isabella hurt Janet again.

The three reached the Barrets house, where Felix and Agatha were waiting by the doorstep. The moment the three children arrived, Felix and Agatha embraced their children.

"We were worried about you!" Agatha said while hugging David and Janet. "Where were you this whole time?"

"It's a long story," David whispered before noticing the shattered window.

"Hey, what happened to the window?" He asked, furrowing his eyebrows in confusion.

"Um, never mind that," Felix said, shifting his eyes. "But, the good news is we are never going to allow another play date with the Collins, ever again."

David breathed a sigh of relief that Brenda would be mostly out of his life now. But then his head turned to Janet and his happiness ceased.

"Um, mom, dad," He said, ushering over to Janet's hair. Felix and Agatha glanced over and saw Janet's severed ponytails.

"Oh my, what happened to your hair?!" Agatha asked, rubbing Janet's hair.

"It was...it was nothing!" Janet said and rushed into the house, slamming the door behind her, leaving her brother, parents, and Sam outside.

"Um, I think we better take this inside," Felix said.

* * *

After everyone was inside the house and David and his parents were sitting on their bed, David "filled his parents out" on what had happened.

"So, we were going through the forest, and we ran into a bunch of bullies," David explained. "We wanted to leave, but they trapped us, and they started going after Janet since she's the smallest, and some girl cut her ponytails off, and I...punched her in the chest."

Agatha's eyes widened and Felix tried to contain his laughter. "You, punched her in the br-" Felix started but Agatha covered his mouth.

"Um, speaking of which, she was in more pain than I thought," David said, confused and rubbing his head. "She acted like she had a heart attack. I don't get it, why did my punch hurt her so much."

David thought he heard his mother mutter, "How am I going to explain this?" And she inched closer to him.

"Okay, how old was the girl?" Agatha asked.

"Eleven," David replied. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"Okay, at that age, girls go through, well, puberty, and they go through changes, so certain areas will start to hurt more than others," Agatha explained quickly, then poked her index finger into David's head. "There, now remember that next time you feel the need to hit a girl there."

David's eyes traced to the side. "Oh, I will," He said, barely managing to hide a smirk. Then, he remembered that Janet and Sam hadn't come out of her room since she fed into the house and decided to go check on them.

When he got into Janet's room, his eyes widened a bit. Janet's ponytails had been removed and her hair was down. It was short due to Mirror Isabella having cut it earlier and it reminded David of Isabella's hairstyle.

"I let her hair down," Sam explained. "She asked me to."

"How does it look?" Janet asked, her blue eyes burrowing into David's.

David gulped. He wasn't used to seeing Janet without her ponytails, and he was somewhat reminded of Isabella due to Janet's similar hairstyle, but he didn't want to disappoint his sister.

"It looks beautiful," He forced himself to say, which made Janet smile a bit.

"Um, David, when Mirror Isabella cut my hair, she said my ponytails were ugly," She said, frowning as she remembered. "Am I ugly?"

This time, David didn't get to answer. Sam jumped up from the bed and said, "You're positively adorable, Janet, no matter what anyone says."

"And if that idiot reflection girl has anything to say about it, she can take a hike," David added, folding his arms. Sam glared at him, somewhat angered that he had called his sister an idiot, but he begrudgingly agreed.

"I'll be going to bed now," Janet said, sliding into the bed.

David smiled a bit. "Yeah, goodnight," He said to his sister before flicking off the light and shutting the door.

* * *

Mirror Samson lay in his bed, struggling to sleep. But as he did, he began to thrash around in his bed violently, groaning uncomfortably and his eyes quivering.

"No," He whispered in his sleep. "No, no, NO!"

_Mirror Samson ran through a dark, empty space. Everything was dark, no light anywhere except for his own illuminated body. _

_He ran through the empty space, as if trying to find someone, despite practically being blind. His bare feet padded on the ground as he ran._

_"Mirror Samson," A voice called out. Mirror Samson spun around, trying to inspect where the voice was. _

_"...Amanda?" He asked, running towards the source of the voice._

_"Mirror Samson!" The voice called out again. Mirror Samson stopped running and started flying towards the source of the voice, his heart beating rapidly as he flew._

_"Amanda!" He called out. "Where are you!"_

_"I'm right here!" The voice said again. Mirror Samson stopped running as he saw a small girl, crouched on the black ground, her face hidden behind her strawberry blonde hair._

_"Amanda!" Mirror Samson shouted out, running towards the girl, nearly tripping as he tried to reach her. He dove towards the girl, embracing her._

_"Amanda, I thought you were dead!" He said. As he hugged the girl, he felt a warm liquid pouring down his arm. As he glanced down, he saw blood pouring from a gash in the girl's side._

_"Augh!" Mirror Samson cried out. The girl raised her face towards Mirror Samson, revealing a sickeningly pale face with dead, black eyes._

_"Oh, Mirror Samson," The girl whispered to him, and she raised a spindly, bony arm with claws on its fingers towards Mirror Samson's face._

_"No!" He shouted out._

_"Stay with me," The girl pleaded as she wrapped her claws over Mirror Samson's face. **"Forever."**_

"NO!" Mirror Samson shouted, jolting up from his bed. He turned around to see Kizzy and Mirror Kizzy sleeping on the other bed, next to his.

Mirror Samson breathed heavily, sweat pouring from his forehead and neck. Tears began streaming from his eyes.

With nobody to watch him, Mirror Samson covered his eyes and sobbed himself to sleep, slumping back on the bed with a thud.

* * *

_End of the chapter. And on the subject of Kizzy, she and Mirror Kizzy were one character, as shown previously. But, now I'm changing it a bit so they're separate from each other.  
_


	33. Mirror Isabella's Idea

_AlecReyes19: Yep, David went there. But how else was he supposed to stop her?_

_A-Plus Cassiopeia: Oh, they won't be safe for long. And no need to stress David's punch._

_BookMast3r: Indeed, she is. And here's a fun fact: against what some people think, Brenda wasn't the main bully tormenting David and Janet, Isabella was._

_With that said, let's continue._

* * *

Isabella, who had spent the entire day out with a friend, had since then returned to the Mirror dimension. Mirror Isabella was waiting for her when she arrived, and soon informed her of what had recently transpired, skimming over a few details in the process, though.

"Whoa, whoa, wait a second, he did _what_?" Isabella asked once her mirror counterpart had told her of David's fight with her, culminating in David's final strike against her.

Mirror Isabella simply nodded and aimed one finger on her chest. "It hurt a lot, you know," She said, trying to gain some sympathy from Isabella. "Boys have no respect for our anatomy."

"Well, then what happened?" Isabella asked, trying to make sense of all that had transpired in her absence.

"Oh, I just told Sam to go back with them," Mirror Isabella casually explained, folding her arms across her chest with a smug look on her face.

Silence hit the room. "You just _let _Sam go back?" Isabella asked in disbelief after a few moments. She rubbed her forehead, astounded. "Why would you do such a thing? You know he's already attached to that Janet kid!"

Mirror Isabella's grin grew wider. "That's exactly my point," She said, and for a moment, her eyes went pitch black before returning to normal. However, Isabella still noticed it.

"Your eyes," Isabella whispered.

Mirror Isabella shrugged. "What about them?" She asked, placing a finger on her eyelid. "They're as beautiful as ever."

"It's happening again," Isabella whispered quietly to herself, but Mirror Isabella noticed her. Swinging her arm out, Mirror Isabella punched Isabella on the shoulder, though not very hard.

"You shouldn't worry about that," Mirror Isabella snapped, narrowing her eyes. "Anyways, as I was saying, Sam and Janet are becoming attached., but that gave me an idea."

Isabella's skin paled a bit. She hated it when her counterpart had ideas, because they usually resulted in someone getting hurt.

"And, what is this idea, you have?" Isabella asked nervously, floating a bit in the air.

Mirror Isabella grinned, showing her teeth. "When you and Sam lived in the orphanage, Sam became friends with a young girl named Amanda, remember," Mirror Isabella explained. "But after the, _incident_, Sam doesn't want to be attached to anyone afterwards for fear of what might happen if he ever got a new friend."

Isabella's eyes widened as she got a hint as to what Mirror Isabella was planning. "You're not going to-"

Mirror Isabella raised her hand to silence her. "Well, now that he's all buddy-buddy with those two losers, I bet he doesn't want anything dangerous to befall them." Her eyes went black once more. _"And since he wants them to be safe, he'll do what I want him to."_

Isabella recognized the new voice and began to hover away a bit. "What are you going to do?" She asked, actually feeling a twinge of fear for her enemies.

Mirror Isabella's eyes and voice returned to normal. "You're going to make a phone call to two friends," She demanded, grabbing Isabella by the wrist. "I'll get Kizzy and Lizzy and tell them the details. But don't let Mirror Samson know about this!"

Unbeknownst to either girls, Isabella wouldn't have to tell Mirror Samson, for he had been wide awake and listening in on the conversation from within his bedroom.

As realization struck him, Mirror Samson's fear for David and Janet began to grow each second. Granted, despite his claims that "Earth-dimension people" were dumb, he couldn't help but feel compelled to do something to protect these innocents.

Making a faint whistle, Mirror Samson called for Ballard. Soon enough, the cat skittered into the room and onto the bed with him.

Lightly holding Ballard into the air, Mirror Samson said, "Ballard, I need you to look out for those two kids that Sam's with. Their names are David and Janet. I think my sister wants to harm them."

Ballard meowed softly, and Mirror Samson grimaced.

"What do you mean, why should you be able to do it?" Mirror Samson quietly hissed. "I can't leave the Mirror dimension without possessing Sam, of course you should do it!"

Ballard meowed again, and Mirror Samson's arms tensed.

"You can't look after both of them?!" Mirror Samson almost yelled and shook Ballard in the air. "Why not! You can just alternate between the two!"

Ballard shifted his eyes a bit and meowed again.

"What's in it for you?" Mirror Samson groaned. "Well, I'll do whatever you want for a week! There, end of discussion! Now just go out and check on those two kids, now!"

"Mirror Samson, what are you doing?" Kizzy asked, yawning a bit, from the other bed. Mirror Samson stared at her and lowered Ballard, who scurried out of the room.

"Um, nothing," He lied, then rested his head on the bed. Kizzy rolled her eyes and slumped down on her bed as well, but pointed a finger out at him.

"Don't disturb me again!" She ordered. "Or I'll sic Mirror Kizzy on you!"

Mirror Samson nodded and began to drift to sleep, while Ballard, meanwhile, was journeying to the Earth dimension…

* * *

_Yeah, I know, short chapter, but the next one will be longer._


	34. The Line for Obedience

_BookMast3r: A valiant effort, but Mirror Isabella probably won't listen :P_

_AlecReyes19: I doubt anyone does._

_A-Plus Cassiopeia: Mirror Isabella is a distrusting person, so she feels threatened by David and Janet and thinks they might influence him against her._

_With that said, let's continue._

* * *

Sam and David awoke next morning to the blinding rays of sunlight peering through the blinds of David's window. Sam slipped out of bed with a yawn while David remained tucked in.

"What day is it?" Sam asked, stretching his limbs.

"I don't know, but probably not a school day," David replied, still remaining in bed. After a few moments, he finally got out of bed as well.

"Is Janet awake?" Sam asked. "She seemed pretty torn up last night after what happened."

David glared in anger as he remembered what Mirror Isabella had done. "I'll go check on her," He said, stomping out of the room to go see his sister.

David had expected Janet to be wide awake like she usually was, but he was surprised to find that she was still in her bed when he opened the door. At first he thought she was still asleep, but then he heard Janet whispering lightly, her head lowered on her pillow.

"What are you doing, Janet?" He asked, startling her as she hadn't noticed him arrive. A haze of brown hair fell over her face as Janet stumbled to get out of the bed.

"Whoops, sorry about that," Janet said as she got to her feet. "I was just praying."

By now, Sam had arrived in the room as well and heard Janet. "You were praying?" He asked. "About what?" He knew very well who Janet was praying to, he just hadn't a clue of what she was praying about.

"I just wanted to ask forgiveness," Janet meekly mumbled, wringing her arm and making an awkward smile. Sam and David's faces contorted into that of confusion.

"What on earth do you have to be forgiven about?" David asked, perturbed.

"I made Sam's sister angry," Janet said. "I fed her pets without her permission and I pushed her. I just wanted to ask forgiveness for what I did wrong."

Silence flew through the room for a minute. Sam and David stared at Janet, not making a sound, and then David moved forward and grabbed Janet by the shoulders.

"Janet, SHE hurt HER!" He shouted at her. "She punched you in the face and cut your hair! If anyone needs to apologize, it's her!"

"But she's older than me, and probably stressed about some things," Janet reasoned.

"Mirror Isabella is just a stupid, cowardly thug!" David spat out, his voice hoarse. "The last thing you need to do is submit to her, understand me!"

Feeling eyes on him, David turned around to see Sam glaring at him, his arms folded across his chest. "Oh, don't act so mad," He snapped. "You know what your sister did."

Sam beckoned for David to follow him outside. David took one glance towards Janet, who turned from his gaze, and then followed the younger boy outside into the hallway.

"I know you're going to try and excuse your sister's actions," David claimed, folding his arms. "Well, what she did was uncalled for, especially for such a young girl like Janet. Your sister is older than either of us, she should know better than to fly off her rocker like that."

"I wasn't going to talk about that," Sam replied calmly. "It's your sister. Why is she like that?"

David's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "Like what?" He asked.

"Why would she blame herself for what my sister did?" Sam asked. "Mirror Isabella started it, why would Janet need to pray for forgiveness?"

David bit his lower lip. "Janet's just like that," He excused. "She doesn't want trouble from anyone."

The look Sam gave him made it obvious he wasn't buying it. "Has Janet done something like this before?" He asked. "Has someone taken advantage of her or something?"

"Sometimes," David said, and his face morphed into that of anger. "About two years back, when we were still getting used to new people in our lives, I wanted Janet to make a good impression with some people, including the Collins and...your sister."

Sam's face paled, though not much due to his dark complexion.

"I told Izzy...well, Isabella and Brenda that my sister was good at acrobatics," David said, and for a moment Sam saw a glint of guilt in David's eyes. "Naturally, Izzy dared Janet to do a back flip, and since she didn't want to embarrass me in front of your sister, Janet complied and tried to do so."

"It didn't end well, did it," Sam guessed, and David rubbed his eyes a bit.

"I don't want to talk about it, but let's just say that the dog attack a few days ago wasn't the first time Janet has broken her arm," David said, and he turned away from Sam.

Sam looked down, picturing the whole incident in his head.

"My sister just wants to be on everyone's good side," David said. "She doesn't want to cause trouble, so she'll do what others tell her to do because she thinks it's the right thing. Sometimes, I worry she'll end up hurt one day because of it."

The two boys remained silent for a moment, before David spoke again. "I'm going out for a bit," He said. "I need to go see someone." He didn't offer any details, and Sam didn't ask for any. David then vanished downstairs and Sam heard the door creak open and then slam shut, indicating that David had left the house.

The moment David was gone, Sam peered through the door of Janet's room. Janet was now sitting on the bed, reading a small picture book. Slowly, Sam walked in.

"Um, Janet?" He asked. Janet glanced over to him and lowered the book.

"Yes, Sam?" She asked, her blue eyes glittering.

"Look, I was talking with your brother, and he told me about something that happened two years ago," Sam said. "He said you broke your arm doing a back flip because my sister told you to."

Janet's face fell and she glanced down at her arm cast. "It wasn't her fault," She stammered out nervously. "She didn't know I would break my arm, and she really did care when it happened."

"That doesn't matter," Sam interrupted. "But, why would you do it? You didn't know how to do back flips, why would you try it to impress some kid?"  
"My brother was there, I couldn't disappoint him, especially in front of those other kids," Janet explained, gesturing wildly with her arms. "I made the decision to do the flip, and besides, it was years ago."

Sam took a seat on the bed. "Janet, you shouldn't always have to do what others tell you to," He said.

Janet frowned. "But disobeying people is wrong," She replied, confused.

"Not what I meant," Sam cut in. "If you didn't know how to do a back flip, then you shouldn't have done it, regardless of whether you felt your brother would be disappointed in you. He told a lie, you shouldn't have to get hurt about it."

"But-"

"And you shouldn't have told Brenda all those stuff about mirror people. You think its because of the clothes she offered you, but I know it's because you wanted to please her."

"Well, I guess-"

"And my sister did start that confrontation with you, so you shouldn't have to be the one who needs to apologize," Sam added. "You were just defending yourself. There's nothing wrong with that."

For a second Sam saw tears in Janet's eyes before she wiped them away. "What are you saying?" She asked.

"I'm saying you shouldn't have to do what others tell you to if it's just going to end up hurting your or someone else," Sam explained. "It's not worth the risk."

Janet managed a soft smile. "I guess you're right," She said, then added, "Where's my brother?"

"He went out to go see someone," Sam said. At that moment, Janet's face contorted into horror. "Oh no!" She shouted. "Your sister's probably still angry with him, who knows what she might do now that he's alone!"

"Wait, what?" Sam asked, but Janet had already bolted off the bed and out the room. Shocked and concerned, Sam followed closely.

"Janet, wait for me!"

* * *

David walked through the passageway of the forest, his hands in his pockets. It was simple; just go back to the Mirror dimension for a bit, and clear some things up with Mirror Isabella. He'd make up with her, and his sister wouldn't be in danger anymore.

He'd already memorized where the mirror was, so it was no problem locating it. However, as he walked through the creek, two girls he didn't recognize leaped out from behind the trees and blocked his way.

"Who are you?" He asked, rather disinterested. However, it was then that he noticed that both girls had glowing blue eyes.

"My name is Ophelia, and that's my sister Pandora," One of the girls introduced and grinned mischievously. "A friend called us, said you disrespected her, and we're here to teach you a lesson."

David's eyes widened in fear as the two girl began to converge upon him.

* * *

_End of the chapter. Read and review.  
_


	35. Ophelia and Pandora

_BookMast3r: Janet may be the most pure-hearted, but even she has a few things to learn. And good to know about Pandora, I just named her after a scrapped character from my original story version._

_Alecreys19: Janet's just too nice._

_A-Plus Cassiopeia: Yeah, well Janet may just be able to pick herself back up like she always does. And I wonder what Alec did to his aunt…_

_With that said, let's continue._

David found himself faced with the two girls, both advancing on him. Their blue eyes gleamed with excitement.

Ophelia and Pandora didn't quite look like their reflection counterparts. Ophelia had stringy blonde hair and wore no makeup, in stark contrast to the Gothic Mirror Ophelia. She was wearing an old, worn out black jacket. Pandora had short, dirty blonde hair and was slightly shorter than Ophelia. They both had freckles and Ophelia was missing a tooth.

They both seemed to be Isabella's age and were a little bigger than David. That, coupled by the fact that they were mirror people, meant they had a clear advantage over David.

David was one to pick the most logical solution, and right now the logical solution was to RUN. Without a second thought, he spun around and bolted through the forest in the opposite direction he had come from.

"It's going to be one of those days," Ophelia sneered to her sister, casually pushing back her long hair before taking off after David, Pandora following closely behind.

* * *

Janet ran through the forest, Sam following closely behind. He was struggling to keep up with Janet, who was surprisingly quick and agile.

"Janet, do you even know where we're going?" Sam asked, stopping to catch his breath. "My brother is in this forest, and we have to find him," Janet called out without even stopping.

Sam was just about to resume following her when a figure jumped out, grabbed Sam, and pulled him behind a tree. Janet didn't notice and continued running.

"Who are you?!" Sam shouted out and raised his hands in defense, but stopped when he saw it was Isabella. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to give you a choice," Isabella said, sitting down on a fallen log. "Mirror Isabella and I really want you to come back with us, Sam."

"But what about David?" Sam asked, tensing up a bit. "Is he in danger. What did you do to him!"

"I didn't do anything," Isabella reassured, then gestured for Sam to sit down on the log with her. Sam hesitated, but eventually complied.

"Look, I know that you're friends with those two kids," Isabella said, staring off into into the sky. "But you can't live with them. You should live with us."

"But, well..." Sam didn't know what to say. He knew Isabella had a point, though.

"If you care about your friends, then you'll come back with us," Isabella said, standing up from the log. "If you want them to be safe, you'll leave them, and they won't be in danger anymore."

Sam's face went blank as he began to think of what to do.

"Think about it, Samson, think about it," Isabella said, then walked off and vanished.

* * *

Janet, in the time that she had left Sam, was experiencing similar problems as she struggled to search for David. It soon began to dawn on her that she was alone, but she set that aside when she felt as if someone was watching her.

"Well, isn't this odd, an Earth dimension girl all alone in the forest," A voice taunted. Janet spun around to see Kizzy, standing in front of her.

Janet recognized Kizzy's reflection, and she took no chances. She ran up and attempted to kick Kizzy in the face, but the Mirror girl dodged the attack. Janet sprang out and made several attempts to strike Kizzy, but she was much slower than the Mirror girl.

Eventually, Kizzy grabbed Janet's arm cast and squeezed it a bit, causing her to scream in pain. Tumbling on the ground, Janet held her injured arm, biting back a scream.

"Look at you, as sad as ever," Kizzy mocked, folding her arms. Then, Lizzy appeared from out of the shadows and grabbed Janet, hoisting her to her feet.

Despite being intimidated by the two girls, Janet firmly asked, "What did you do to my brother?" She was trying to sound strong, but Lizzy and Kizzy weren't afraid. They knew Janet was no match fir either of them.

"Don't even try to act like you're so strong, Little Jane," Lizzy sneered, releasing Janet from her hold. "We all know who's the weakest here."

"You think so," Janet said. "The only reason you're so tough is because you have super powers. Well, if you didn;t have powers, I could kick your butt!"

Kizzy, already irritated at Janet's attitude, reached out and shoved her hard enough to knock her over. Janet screamed as she fell on her bottom.

Lizzy started laughing at Janet's plight. "Poor little thing, so helpless, so weak," She said. "Maybe that's why Sammy decided to remain with you. Because he felt sorry for you."

Janet hid behind her secret embarrassment by narrowing her eyes and baring her teeth. She got to her feet and faced the two girls.

"Well at least I'm a better friend to him than either of you!" She shot back. "In case you haven't noticed, I've been teaching him how to control his fire powers. Turns out, his ice powers have an interesting affect on his fire powers."

Lizzy and Kizzy just continued laughing. "Who cares about his fire powers?" Lizzy asked. "How's that going to help him."

"It could," Janet whispered, though not loud enough for either of the two girls to hear.

"But what about you?" Kizzy asked, placing an arm on Janet's shoulder. "You're so...meek, but I guess I shouldn't hold it against you. After all, you're just an Earth-dimension human."

Janet shook off Kizzy's arm. "What's that supposed to mean?" She asked, offended.

"It means you're fragile," Lizzy cut in, pointing a finger at Lizzy. "You Earth people are weak, soft, and nothing in your world holds a candle to the Mirror dimension!"

Despite Janet's attempts to act confident, the insults hurled against her because to take its toll. She immediately looked away from Lizzy and Kizzy so they wouldn't notice the tears in her eyes.

"Oh look, she's crying," Kizzy sneered, a small smile on her face. "I guess you should've expected that from her."

"Leave me alone!" Janet shouted and shoved forward at the two, but they dodged past her, causing Janet to stumble into a tree.

"We'd love to talk more, but it seems you're brother is in enough trouble already," Lizzy called out, and she and Kizzy vanished, leaving Janet alone in the forest.

Janet wiped the tears from her eyes and then her eyes widened in shock as she remembered that David was still missing.

"Janet!" Sam called out. Janet spun around as Sam ran towards her, sweat on his forehead despite it being very chilly outside.

"Did you find David?" Sam asked. Janet shook her head, and tears began to brew in her eyes once more.

"We'll find him, Janet, I promise," Sam comforted, wiping the tear from Janet's eye. The brunette girl managed a weak smile in response.

* * *

David's attempts at fleeing hadn't worked out for him. Ophelia and Pandora were very fast runners, and they caught up with him easily. But David wouldn't relent, and he made a sharp turn to the left to evade the two. However, the just as easily diverted their running towards him.

David was running out of breath very quickly. He wasn't used to running this fast, nor was he used to getting chased like this. Occasionally, Izzy or Brenda had pursued him when he made a smart remark or made an insulting gesture, but they weren't like now. David had no idea what these two Mirror girls were going to do to him if they caught him.

David had been so distracted by fleeing he hadn't noticed that he'd ran up to a cliff side. Stopping only a few inches away, David paused and saw Janet and Sam, about fifty feet below him.

"Hey, Sam!" David called out. "Janet!" However, they were too far away for them to hear.

"Oh, brunet boy," Ophelia taunted as she and Pandora caught up with him. David spun around and groaned inwardly. There was no way he could get away now.

"Look, you two seem like reasonable kids, maybe we could-" David tried to reason but was cut short when Ophelia ran at him and punched him in the gut, knocking the wind out of him.

David doubled over in pain, gasping out as the wind was knocked out of him. He felt like he had collided with a brick wall while running at top speed; the pain was agonizing.

Stumbling over, David slipped and tumbled from the side of the cliff. Screaming out, David managed to grab onto the side of the cliff with one arm.

David looked down and saw the fifty feet drop below him. Quickly, he began scrambling to get up. However, he stopped when he saw Ophelia and Pamela standing over him.

Ophelia crouched down on her knees. "Well, this is an unfortunate event," She sneered with a fake British accent. "Wouldn't it be unfortunate if you were to slip."

She grabbed David's hand and began to dislodge his hold on the cliff side. Behind her, Pandora watched uncomfortably, hugging herself.

"Ophelia, you think we should let him go?" She asked, obviously uncomfortable with what was happening.

Ophelia turned around and glared at her sister. "Mirror Isabella told us to freak him out, and that's what we're going to do," She stated firmly. With one hand, she suspended David in midair and hung him off the cliff.

"Now, let this be a lesson to you, brunet boy," Ophelia sneered. "Don't mess with my friends, or this isn't even going to be half of what we do to you!"

Suddenly, a cat screech caught both girls off-guard. Despite his dizziness, David could see Ballard running past a startled Pandora and towards Ophelia.

The cat screeched at Ophelia, who began to stumble a bit from shock. "What are you doing here, Ballard?!" She asked, shaking David by his arm. "Get out of here!"

Ballard hissed before firing a blue beam from his eyes that struck Ophelia in the arm. Screaming in pain, Ophelia released David, and the boy went plummeting off the cliff.

"NO!" Pandora shouted out, running towards him. "We killed him!"

Ophelia stared down at cliff as David fell, then turned to Ballard and muttered, "Dumb cat."

* * *

_Reviews are appreciated._


	36. Going Home

_AlecReyes19: Pandora and Ophelia are bullies. That's what bullies do, go after people who can't defend themselves._

_A-Plus Cassiopeia: Good news, you won't have to wait long for Sam to make his choice._

_BookMast3r: Well them, let's see what happens._

* * *

David was falling so fast he could barely even think of what he could do to possibly save himself. He had watched many movies where a character had fallen to their deaths, and it hadn't put him on edge in the slightest. But now that he was in that exact, fatal position, he realized just how horrifying it was.

Several questions flooded his mind as he plummeted. Would he survive the fall? Would he die on impact or slowly, painfully succumb to his injuries? What was below him that could possibly stunt his fall. But worse, how would Janet get by with her older brother gone.

That final question racked his mind, and a tear dripped down his face at the prospect of not seeing his beloved sister again.

He hadn't even heard a yelp of surprise coming from below him. His thoughts had clouded his mind. Then, he felt three strong hands grab onto him and stop his fall from midair. Two hands grabbed his legs while the last one grabbed his shirt, leaving him suspended upside down in midair.

"Gah!" He shouted in surprise, and he began flailing his arms around in an effort to free himself. His eyes were shut, so he couldn't see how far he was from the ground. After realizing he wasn't dead, he slowly opened his eyes to see he was about ten feet in the air, and Sam and Janet were below him, their heads craned up at him.

"David, what are you doing up there?" Janet called out in astonishment. Sam simply had a blank look on his face as he stared up at David with a mixture of shock and bewilderment.

"Hey, what the-" David was shouting as he resumed flailing around. Something had grabbed him, but neither Sam nor Janet were tall enough to have done it, and Sam wasn't even flying.

It took a few moments for David to realize that Sam's transparent arms were what had saved him. They were currently vibrating from Sam's back as though they were struggling to hold David in the air.

"Could you put me down," David asked, not caring that his voice was trembling from fear. Sam blinked once and then released him. David screamed in shock as he suddenly went crashing onto the wet, marshy ground.

Sam and Janet cringed as David lay on the ground in pain. The fall hadn't been fatal, but David still felt like his body had been broken. Nevertheless, he got to his feet, stumbling as he did. The moment he caught himself, he panicked as he remembered who had attacked him.

"Quick!" He shouted, grabbing Sam and Janet by their arms. "We got to get out of here before the blonde chicks get us!" With that, he began dragging the stunned eight-year-old children away through the forest.

"Blonde chicks?" Sam asked as he was dragged off. Then, realization hit him. "Oh, dear..."

* * *

"Your sister is nuts!" David screeched at Sam once they were far away from where Ophelia and Pandora had attacked him. Currently, the three were at the same lake where Brenda had taken Sam the night before.

"Look, I know Mirror Isabella can overreact to certain things, but she's got a lot to deal with," Sam tried to defend his sister, but he knew it was useless. David and even Janet were sick of excuses.

"Oh sure, like sending out a mini hit squad to kill me!" David shouted, shooting both his arms up in the air.

"I'm sure Ophelia and Pandora didn't mean to throw you off that cliff," Sam reassured, trying to be calm in front of the two clearly enraged children. "I know them, and they just use fear tactics to get the point across, not outright murder!'

"My brother could have died!" Janet shouted, pointing a finger at David. "Your sister has problems, Sam!" Now she aimed her finger at him.

Sam winced at that. He knew that Janet's anger was really at Mirror Isabella, but he knew that she was also upset that he was defending her after all she'd done.

His head slumped to the ground in defeat. "You're right, she did something wrong," He admitted. "But she did it because she cares about me."

"If she cares about you, then she wouldn't be trying to harm your best friends!" David shouted, aiming a finger at him. Sam backed close to the river, and at that point, Mirror Samson materialized in the water.

"Look, I heard the whole thing, and I think you guys are being too hard on my sister," Mirror Samson cut in, leaning an edge to Sam.

David, who had seen quite a lot in those last few days, wasn't very shocked at seeing Mirror Samson again, and simply turned to face him.

"Who are you to talk, blue-boy!" He shouted at the reflection. "I could've been killed thanks to your sister and her pen-pals."

"My sister hasn't had the best impressions from you Earth-Dimension people," Mirror Samson claimed. "The few that she's ever met other than you two are those orphan kids, and most of them were a bunch of jerks. I mean, there's also this one other girl she knows, but she doesn't visit often."

"So why is she taking it out on us?!" David asked, clenching his fists. "We haven't done anything to her!"

"Well you did punch her in THAT area," Mirror Samson recalled.

"It was an accident!" David defended. "Besides, she hurt my sister!"

"Mirror Isabella doesn't have a good impression of Earth-Dimension people," Mirror Samson claimed. "I mean, us Mirror people have to hide our powers from you guys. If we get found out, we'll be treated like freaks.'

David narrowed his eyes. "You mean like _you _treat _us _like freaks?" He asked, folding his arms.

Throughout the whole argument, Sam began to think of what his sister had told him about returning with her.

_"If you care about your friends, then you'll come back with us."_

He knew his sister was right. After all, if he stayed with David and Janet, Mirror Isabella would just get angrier, and that wouldn't end well.

_"If you want them to be safe, you'll leave them, and they won't be in danger anymore."_

He thought about Amanda, about what had happened to her when he became friends with her. His siblings hadn't liked it, and now Amanda was gone. What if that happened to his new friends.

Sam knew what he had to do.

"I'm going back," He said, interrupting David and Mirror Samson from their argument. All three head snapped towards him.

"You're _what_?" David asked in disbelief. "You're going back to that freak of a sister."

"It's what I have to do," Sam said, trying to look confident in his decision. But he knew his eyes were telling David and Janet a different story.

"So that's it?" David said, his eyebrows furrowing with annoyance. "You're just going to let her win? You're just giving up and doing what she wants you to do?"

"I know she expects me to do it, and I won't disappoint her," Sam said. "If it'll keep you out of danger, then I'll do it." He moved away from the lake, and Mirror Samson vanished.

Janet ran up to Sam. "Sam, I know this is not what you want," She said, gripping his arms tightly. "Mirror Isabella doesn't care about you, she-"

"She _does _care about me, she just has an odd way of showing it," Sam said, gently removing Janet's hands from his arms. "I have to do this."

Janet squinted her eyes at him, trying to keep tears from showing. "Sam, you told me that you shouldn't do what others tell you to do if it'll end up hurting you," She reminded.

Sam's face fell, and he knew Janet had a point. But he wasn't hurting her, or David, by going back. Wasn't he doing the right thing?

"I know, but I have no other choice," Sam said, and he turned and began to leave. Janet didn't follow him; she knew it was pointless.

"Protect yourself," Was all she said as Sam left. Sam didn't respond, but he had heard her words, and they stayed with him.

They stayed with him even as he returned to his home.


	37. Home Again

_A-Plus Cassiopeia: I didn't really know I'd made a reference until after I posted that chapter :P_

_AlecReyes19: Well, David didn't have many options when faced with those two. And, well, Ophelia and Pandora are technically blonde._

_BookMast3r: Oh yeah, Samwise. What a coincidence._

_Now, just to be clear, this story is NOT ending here. Remember what I said about the city being endangered? We're getting to that part in a bit._

* * *

To say that Mirror Isabella was overjoyed when she heard that Sam had returned to the Mirror Dimension would be an understatement. The second he showed up she had welcomed him with open arms.

Sam hadn't spoken it, but he was rather bewildered that his sister, who a night before had struck out at his two best friends and then had two mirror girls attack one of them less than an hour before, was now acting like a plucky little girl, happy that her brother had come back.

Isabella had been present, too, when he returned, but oddly enough, she didn't make her presence that known to Sam. She simply stayed huddled in the dark corner, watching as Sam and Mirror Isabella reunited.

Mirror Samson, Kizzy, and Lizzy hadn't shown up at all. Sam, though he once again stayed quiet, was a little put off that the three hadn't bothered to show up for his arrival.

After it was all over, Sam was sent to his room to see Mirror Samson, Kizzy, and Lizzy all huddled up on his bed, snoring noisily.

Sam flustered. This wasn't how he'd expected to be greeted when he'd come home, especially since everyone had been making such a big deal about it. Mirror Isabella was the only one who'd seemed happy that he'd returned.

"And Janet said that Mirror Isabella didn't care for me," Sam scoffed, noting the irony in her statement beforehand.

Ballard slunk up towards him and purred softly. Sam picked him up and held him in the air.

"Well at least you noticed I'd come back," Sam said, trying to sound grateful that the cat had arrived to acknowledge that he was home.

Sam suddenly felt tired. "I guess all that thinking had taken its toll on me," He mumbled to Ballard, who rolled his eyes at him in response.

Sam flopped down on Mirror Samson's bed, since his own bed was currently occupied. Hopefully he could get some sleep now.

_"Mirror Isabella doesn't care about you."_

Sam opened his eyes a bit, and his eyebrows furrowed in frustration. Why was he thinking about what Janet had said now? The last thing he'd expected was for something Janet had said to disrupt his rest.

But what if she was right? Maybe that's why he couldn't rest.

* * *

A day later, school was back on. David, as usual, was less than pleased at the prospect of going back, especially since he'd managed to avoid for these last few days.

When he'd arrived at the school, he was suddenly struck with the idea of what Brenda might be doing. He'd been so occupied focusing on Mirror Isabella that he'd forgotten about Brenda.

At best, he thought, the words he'd spoken to her those two days ago would've taken some effect on her and caused her to mellow up. However, he'd known Brenda for two years and the thought that his words would've had an effect on her was pretty slim.

To his shock, when class started, Brenda barely made a presence. David had turned to stare at her continuously to see if she was doing something, but she just sat at her desk, her head resting on it with her messy brown hair covering her face. During recess, Brenda just sat on a nearby rock and did nothing as she watched the other kids play.

David wouldn't admit it, but he almost pitied her when he'd seen how incredibly sad and guilty she seemed. Normally, seeing her upset would've made him joyful, but now he just felt empty.

Isabella hadn't shown up to school either. David wondered if Mirror Isabella had something to do with that.

With Isabella absent and Brenda practically invisible, school passed like a breeze. When the final bell was about to ring, David was one of the first children to be out the door.

As luck would have it, that Indian boy that David had spoken to a few days before was standing in front of David's bag, which was currently hanging from a school bag hanger.

David was already in a bad mood, even if two of his worst enemies weren't bugging him, and he instantly pushed the boy out of the way. Unfortunately, the boy's hand accidentally caught David's bag, knocking it on the floor. The bag, which had been left half-open by David, now zipped open and caused David's schoolwork to spill out all over the floor.

"Hey!" David shouted angrily.

"Whoops, sorry," The boy said as he began to scramble to his feet.

"You knocked my bag on the ground!" David shouted and grabbed the boy by the arm roughly. A few kids were staring at the two struggling classmates, their expressions varying from awe and disgust. But none of them dared to intervene.

Before things could escalate any further, a voice called out, "You're a hypocrite, Davey."

David paused and let go of the boy, who took off. David turned around to see none other than Brenda, holding her schoolbag in her arms, her eyes narrowed at him.

"You told me I was selfish for taking my anger out on people who didn't deserve it," She said, her expression not changing, "I see that I was selfish. But now I also see that you are just the same."

David just stared at her with a blank look; he'd never considered what he'd been doing to the other children.

"You're a bully who takes your anger out on other people, just like me," Brenda claimed, turning her nose up at him. "You're no different from me, and you know it." With that, she stalked past him, intentionally bumping into him as she left.

Slowly, the other children then crowded past David, some exchanging glares at him as they walked by, until David was alone in the hallway, humiliated and bitter.

* * *

_Note: Something big is happening soon, but I can't give it away. Reviews are appreciated.  
_


	38. A Shift of Events

_BookMast3r: David had been acting like a jerk to that kid beforehand._

_AlecReyes19: Well, none of the kids have anything against David against Brenda and Isabella._

_A-Plus Cassiopeia: Oh, you think Mirror Isabella got offensive then. Just wait and see what she does next._

_I didn't mention this in my previous chapter, but here it goes. HOORAY FOR ME! THIS IS MY FIRST STORY TO REACH 100 REVIEWS!_

* * *

"I'm going out," Isabella told Sam that afternoon. For the life of him, Sam couldn't understand why. It was getting dark rather early, and the city wasn't exactly a nice place after dark. Sure, he knew Isabella could defend herself, what with all her powers, but it was still rather risky. He kept it to himself, though, and just watched as Isabella left.

All Sam could do now is slump down on the floor, bored. He had nothing to do; even with his powers, he felt like he was nothing. He had let Mirror Isabella outwit him and use his love for the Barrets against him.

It felt like a year ago that he had lived with the Barrets, rather than just one day away from them. He recalled the misadventures he'd had with David and Janet: saving Janet from the rabid dog, protecting David from that gang of hoodlums, bringing them into the Mirror dimension: he remembered all of it, even if it felt like such a long time ago.

"I haven't seen you look so down since when we first moved away from the orphanage."

Sam almost jumped when he heard Mirror Samson behind him. It was a wonder how he had never quite gotten used to his reflection sneaking up on him, which was one of his quirks.

"Look, I've been monitoring you, if you could say that," Mirror Samson said. "After all, I am your reflection, so whenever you were near a mirror or reflection, I was there, so yeah."

"Get to the point," Sam groaned, turning around to face the other direction. "I don't have all afternoon."

Mirror Samson rolled his eyes at Sam's snippy tone, but continued nonetheless. "Look, I've been watching you interact with those two kids, and it dawned on me that you ay have bonded with the girl," He said, stiffening a shudder at the thought.

"Her name's Janet," Sam said.

"Yeah, Janet, that's her name," Mirror Samson said. "So, I thought about it, and, since it seems you care about her, maybe you could go see her again."

The thought that Mirror Samson, who a day ago had suggested that Sam return to the Mirror dimension, was now saying that he should go back to the Barrets, was more than a little confusing for Sam.

"What?" He said bluntly. "Don't you remember how Mirror Isabella reacted when I was with them." Sam got to his feet, now somewhat unnerved and angered. "I don't want to put them through that again."

"I don't mean living with them," Mirror Samson reassured, shrugging his shoulders. "Bella is friends with Brenda. Brenda is probably the worst friend I've ever seen, but Mirror Isabella allows it. Maybe she was only upset that you were out of your vicinity."

"She sure didn't seem like that was the case," Sam mumbled, still uncertain. It was the truth, after all; Mirror Isabella was trying to make a point to him, one that was all too clear.

"Look, why don't you just go over and talk to those two, and I'll explain things to Mirror Isabella," Mirror Samson suggested. "I'm sure she'd understand.

Sam didn't like it. Mirror Isabella wasn't one to listen to anyone, except some of her friends, like Pandora, or Ophelia, or Pamela. That, and Mirror Isabella would definitely overreact if things went wrong.

But on another hand, Mirror Isabella should be asleep by now, and when she wakes up, she'd be calmer. That'd be the perfect time for Mirror Samson to explain things properly to her. In the meantime, Sam just couldn't wait. He really wanted to be with Janet again.

"Look I'll go get the Barrets, we'll come back here, and we'll talk it out," Sam suggested. "But you should get some rest. I'll be back soon enough!" With that, he took off down the corridors to go find the mirror.

It was only when Sam left that Mirror Samson felt like he was being watched. Slowly turning around, Mirror Samson prayed that no one was there, and that he was simply paranoid.

Alas, it could not be.

There Mirror Isabella was, wearing her nightgown, standing in the corridors. Her shoulders were slumped down, and she looked half-asleep, but even then, she had the most heartbroken look on her face anyone had ever seen. Mirror Samson could tell by the expression on her face that his sister had overheard the entire conversation.

"Mirror Isabella, I know you don't like the Barrets, but this is for Sam," Mirror Samson tried to explain, keeping his distance from Mirror Isabella. He knew how violent she could get if angered, and he was trying to avoid it.

"You...made a decision as big as this, and you didn't tell me about it first!" Mirror Isabella shouted at him, her saddened expression changing into that of rage. She took a few steps towards her brother, clenching her fists.

"Look, I was going to tell you sooner, but you were asleep, and I didn't want to disturb you," Mirror Samson excused, though he knew it was futile.

"Well, you should have taken that risk!" Mirror Isabella fumed, getting angrier by the second. "Mirror Samson Crystal, how could you do something like this without me knowing?"

Now Mirror Samson got angry himself. "What is it you have against the Barrets, anyways?" He asked, putting Mirror Isabella on edge with how sharp he had questioned her.

"They aren't as bad as you say they are," Mirror Samson went on. "They don't judge Sam because of his powers, like you say they would have. They actually try to help him."

"They're from the Earth dimension, you think any of the help they offer Sam is genuine?" Mirror Isabella asked. "They're just using him, mark my words, and you just put him in danger, telling him to go back to them!"

"They aren't dangerous," Mirror Samson said. "They're good people, and they want what's best for Sam. Kind of like Amanda..."

Mirror Samson almost immediately regretted mentioning Amanda, for the moment he did, Mirror Isabella lunged at him with an animalistic fury. She slammed him onto the ground, and Mirror Samson saw his sister's eyes burning with fury.

_"How dare you?!" _Mirror Isabella screeched, and her eyes went dark. She began beating on Mirror Samson's face, sending blow after blow at his eyes, nose, and throat. Mirror Samson tried to shield himself, but she began to strike him harder and faster with each blow, bruising him immensely. She then stopped beating him and wrapped her fingers around his throat, strangling him as she practically sat on him.

Coughing, Mirror Samson tried to pry Mirror Isabella's hands off of him, but it was no use. She was bigger and stronger than he was, and he was too injured to try and fight back in any way.

After a few minutes, he fell unconscious. Almost immediately, Mirror Isabella sprang to her feet, shaking a bit, shocked and somewhat disturbed at what she had done. She covered her face with her hands breathing heavily, before grabbing Mirror Samson by the hair and dragging him off into Isabella's room. There, she pushed Mirror Samson into a small room, so small he couldn't even stand in it. After squishing him inside, Mirror Isabella locked him.

After the deed was done, Mirror Isabella wiped her face, breathing heavily.

"What do I do now?" She asked. Suddenly, one of her woodpeckers flew in and landed on her hand.

Mirror Isabella raised the woodpecker to her eye level, and said, "Okay, little birdie, I want you to fly off and make a little visit to those Barrets," She cooed to it. The woodpecker flew off her hand and zipped through the corridors to find the mirror.

_"You know, it will never end as long as that city is here."_

Mirror Isabella didn't even try to shut off the voice this time. She wanted to hear what it had to say.

_"Even if you get rid of the Barrets, Sam will acquaint himself with more of those Earth-dimension freaks. Even if you move somewhere else, it will make no difference."_

"What do I do then?" Mirror Isabella asked. She then found herself turning to stare at her hand mirror. The same mirror she had used to impress her friends. The mirror that could suck things inside of it and trap it.

_"Use it."_

Mirror Isabella didn't want to do it. Even with how arrogant she was, she had a conscience, and she knew deep down what she was going to do was wrong. But it was like she had no control over herself. It was like something else had taken over.

And she found herself reaching for the mirror.

* * *

David had gotten home a few hours ago, his incident with Brenda still fresh in his mind. He was angry at having been embarrassed by one of his main enemies, but also forced to face the truth: Brenda was right about him. He was a bully, like her.

David happened to look out of the window and at the street below him. He could see some of his neighbors below, but what really caught his eye was a red-headed girl skating down the street.

It was Isabella.

Almost immediately, David dove away from the window, and grabbed a monster mask he'd owned since he was five. Racing out of his room and past Janet, he shouted, "I'm going out for a while! Stay here!"

"But-" Janet started, but David just glared at her. Immediately, Janet quieted down and looked away. David ran downstairs again, clutching the mask, got his roller-skates, and raced out the door.

David didn't know why, but he needed to find answers from Isabella. He knew that Isabella was stronger than him, but he also knew of her phobia of monsters and ghosts, something he still didn't know the source of. Nevertheless, he knew he could take advantage of Isabella's irrational fear.

As David followed Isabella down the street, Sam sprinted down the sidewalk after them. He was about to call out to them, but he was unexpectedly grabbed and slammed against a house.

Widening his eyes, Sam found himself facing the deep blue eyes of Kizzy. It dawned upon him that she had followed him out of the Mirror dimension and into the town.

"What are you doing, following that creep?" Kizzy asked, pinning Sam against the wall. "I thought Mirror Bella told you to stay in the Mirror dimension!"

"I know, but-"

"No buts, Samson!" Kizzy snapped as she began to drag Samson away from the house. "We're going back to the mirror, and then you're-"

_WHACK!_

Before Kizzy or Sam could comprehend what had happened, Kizzy was slammed across the temple by a scooter. Instantly, Kizzy crashed onto the ground with a heavy thud, unconscious.

Sam stared at Kizzy's body in shock, then looked up to see who had struck her.

"Brenda?" He choked out when he saw his former enemy holding the scooter as if it were a weapon.

Brenda lowered the scooter. "I saw you getting manhandled by that freak, and I thought you were in trouble, so I..."

"Never mind that," Sam said, grabbing Brenda by the arm. "Izzy and David ran off, and I'm going to go and find them. You're welcome to come with me, if you want."

"What does Izzy have to do with any of this?" Brenda asked, folding her arms.

Sam stifled a laugh, realizing how ironic her statement was. "Oh Brenda, you have no idea. Get on the scooter."

Brenda obeyed and got on the scooter. One of Sam's transparent arms then shot out and grabbed the scooter's handle.

"Hang on!" Sam said before jumping in the air and taking off down the street at a fast pace, taking a screaming Brenda with him.

However, neither of them noticed a blue ray shoot out from the forest and at the town. The ray struck a nearby house, and then began to spread out onto the streets, across the neighborhood, and slowly, but surely, began to expand towards the city.

* * *

_There, that's one of two plot twists out of the way. Can you guess the other one?_


	39. The Orphanage

_AlecReyes19: Nope, no she has not._

_A-Plus Cassiopeia: Yep, Brenda's one of the heroes now. I had it planned since the story started._

_BookMast3r: Not RIGHT now, we have some exposition to get out of the way first. Isn't that fun?_

_I see nobody's been able to guess what the second twist is. Whelp, it's coming up VERY soon, at the end of the chapter, so brace yourselves._

* * *

Janet was in her room, reading one of her picture books to pass the time. In the back of her mind, she was really worried about David, and Sam, and Isabella, even if she didn't like her. She just had a feeling something bad was going to happen.

As it turned out, she was right.

A bright blue flash flashed from outside, coating the entire room with a blinding flash of light, knocking Janet off her bed and causing her to drop the book. Scrambling to her feet in shock, she raced outside and stared out at the street below her.

What she saw astonished her. The house next door to her own was being zapped by a blue ray, and it was spreading over the house. As she watched, the ray began to spread over the streets. One unlucky rabbit happened to hop by and stepped into the ray as it was spreading onto the streets. Instantly, the rabbit was engulfed in the ray and froze in place as if it were stuck in a block of ice.

Janet didn't know exactly what was happening, but she bet it had something to do with Mirror Isabella. Somehow, she had managed to target the whole neighborhood, and maybe even the city. And that meant everyone could be in danger.

She didn't waste any time. Leaping out the window, Janet landed on her parents car with surprising accuracy and landed on the driveway. Immediately, a black cat sprinted towards her. It was Ballard.

"Hey, kitty!" Janet greeted, then remembered the situation at hand. Picking the cat up in her hands, she said, "I have to get you out of here."

Suddenly, a blast of blue fire was shot at Janet, narrowly missing her. Gasping in surprise, Janet looked up to see the mirror woodpecker soaring towards her, its mouth hanging open as it cawed threateningly at her. Another blast of fire was shot out of its mouth, this time aimed at Janet. Before Janet could move, Ballard's eyes glowed icy blue and a ray of ice was fired out, freezing the fire before it could burn Janet.

"Oh gosh, you're a mirror cat!" Janet cried out in disbelief. "That's so cool!"

Ballard craned his neck around to stare at Janet, and she then remembered the ray that was covering the neighborhood. "Oh yeah, that! Mirror cat, show me where David and Isabella went."

Before Janet could set Ballard on the ground, the cat forced itself on the ground before Janet could let go. Then, with Janet clinging to him, Ballard made a mad dash down the neighborhood, the mirror woodpecker following close behind. It was an awkward sight, seeing a cat carry a girl five times his size, but at the moment, it didn't matter.

* * *

David raced after Isabella on the sidewalk, not caring for the people he came close to bumping into or running over. The two preteens had entered the center of the city, and Isabella still was unaware that David was following her.

David still had no idea where Isabella was going, but he intended to find out. He found his answer as Isabella stopped at an abandoned building, which was mar taller and wider than the other buildings in the area.

It was the orphanage, the one Sam and Isabella had lived at two years prior.

Without pausing to look around, Isabella easily opened the door and snuck inside the abandoned building. David began to tiptoe as quietly as he could while wearing his roller skates, making his way to the front door after him. He was secretly wondering why Isabella had chosen to go to the orphanage, but he dare not say it. He didn't want to alert Isabella to his presence, not yet.

Quietly opening the door, David slunk inside and closed the door. The orphanage was unbelievably dark, and David could barely see where he was. He wondered to himself how any of the orphans who used to live there had managed to put up with it. But, in spite of this, David continued with his objective.

Removing his roller skates, David held them both in one arm and felt his way through the hallways with his other arm. As he did so, he couldn't help but feel frightened. Outside, there were dozens of bystanders. Inside, he was totally alone, and he knew nobody could help him if he was put in danger.

His foot hit a doorstep. It hurt, but he didn't make a noise. Instead, David slowly begin to walk up the staircase, holding the railing. As he did so, he was tempted to turn back. Tempted to run outside, return to his house, and pretend none of this had ever transpired. But he knew he wasn't going to do that.

Minutes rolled by, and David finally reached the top of the stairs, and found himself in another hallway. Breathing softly, David continued down the hallway, feeling a cold breeze wisp down the back of his neck. It was like a ghost was rubbing its palm down his neck, and it chilled him to the spine, but he continued.

David heard soft crying coming from inside one of the many rooms he was passing. It was Isabella, of course, but David still felt uncomfortable. He'd never heard Isabella cry before, so if was so alien to hear her do so.

David turned to stare at a half-open door, where the source of the crying was coming from. As stealthily as he could, David slipped inside without further opening the door. There, he saw Isabella, holding a small picture in her hand, facing the window. Small drops of tears fell down onto the floor.

David breathed in and out and set the rollerblades on the ground and felt for his mask. Once he had it, he put it on his face, and snuck up on Isabella. Then, he lunged and grabbed her shoulders.

"Ah!"

Isabella's scream of surprise spooked even David. She spun around, her fist clenched as she prepared to punch whoever had startled her, then froze when she saw the face of the monster mask lock eyes with her. Isabella was stuck in place, too scared to move.

David instantly removed the mask. "Izzy, it's me! David!"

For a few second, the two stared at each other, not making a sound. David dropped the mask onto the ground, ashamed. He wished he'd never brought it with him in the first place.

Isabella dropped her fist and stared at David, her expression changing from shock to anger. She bared her teeth at him like an animal would do, before turning and walking past him. Slowly, she set the picture down on the table, then turned to face David, covering the picture.

"What are you doing here?" She asked, her voice icily cold.

"I followed you here when you passed by my house," David answered, trying to remain stoic, though he was inwardly intimidated. He'd never admit it, but Isabella scared him when she got really angry. However, he had a self-given agenda, and he intended to accomplish it.

"I have a few questions, and you're going to answer them," David said defiantly, staring Isabella in the eyes. "And the first one is, what are you doing in this rotten, abandoned orphanage?"

Isabella stared at him, folding her arms across her chest, trying to look strong. She was hoping she could intimidate David into backing down, but it was no use. She found herself in the same position as when David had cornered her in the forest and exposed her true identity. Now, she was at a loss for words.

Slowly, Isabella moved aside, showing the picture. "Here's your answer," She said bluntly. David slowly moved up to the picture to get a good look at it.

The picture showed five people. Isabella, Sam, Mirror Isabella, Mirror Samson, and a little girl with Venetian blonde hair and hazel eyes.

Amanda.

* * *

In the time that had passed, Sam and Brenda had arrived at the orphanage themselves. Sam had been flying across the sidewalk so fast that Brenda felt she was going to go flying off. She had to do a swerve on her scooter to avoid crashing into a garbage can.

Sam stopped flying and stared up at the orphanage. "Wow, I never thought I'd see this place again," He mumbled to himself. With that, he strode inside the building, Brenda following close behind, setting the scooter down next to the door.

"You know, for someone that was so secretive about your powers, you sure had no problem FLYING in front of all those pedestrians," Brenda said, waving her arms in the air once the two children were inside.

"Well, after I met David and Janet, I don't feel so protective anymore," Sam said in a tone as if he couldn't believe it himself. "I mean, my sister always told me that people would revile me as a freak of nature, but, I don't know, I think she might be wrong."

Before Brenda could reply, the two heard the ground creak a few feet away, and they spun around to see a figure, concealed in shadows, sprint off in the opposite direction.

"Oh, no you don't!" Sam shouted and his transparent arms shot out and grabbed the figured, pinning her to the ground. The figure struggled and screamed, but it was no use. Sam had her totally overpowered.

"Bring her here," Brenda suggested. Sam obeyed and dragged the person towards the two so that they could see her.

Once she was in view and the two could clearly see her, Sam nearly screamed out loud.

* * *

_Who do you think it is?_


	40. Exposition

_AlecReyes19: Don't worry, Janet's going to be fine. Don't know I'm spoiling anything, though._

_A-Plus Cassiopeia: You just answered your own question._

_BookMast3r: Let's find out, shall we._

* * *

Sam was shivering all over, trying to fight in the urge to scream out loud at the person before him. His big blue eyes were threatening to spill with tears, and his terracotta skin was turning pale, for he was staring at the one person he'd thought he'd never see again.

It was Amanda.

At first, he didn't believe it. There was no way she was right here, in front of him. His eyes were tricking him; it had to be some other girl who had happened to be lurking through the orphanage. There were quite a few girls who looked like Amanda, maybe he'd just stumbled upon a lookalike.

But he knew the truth. She had the same Venetian blonde hair, which had grown longer and was let loose now. She had the same hazel eyes, and the same freckles, and the same innocent look. She was older now, but there was no mistake that the girl right before him was the same girl he'd been friends with two years before.

"Let me go! Let go of me!"

Amanda was still trashing in Sam's grip, so much that he was having trouble keeping hold of her. Immediately, he let her go, and she stumbled on the floor. She got on her knees and began wiping her hair out of her eyes so she could see who it was. Her eyes fell on him, and Amanda gained the same awestruck expression that Sam had.

As their identical expressions locked into each other, Sam knew Amanda was thinking the same thing he was. _Is it really him? What is he doing here? I thought I'd never see him again?_

Both children were so stricken with shock that they'd forgotten that Brenda was standing right next to them. Sticking her hand between the two children's faces, she said quickly, "Hey."

Immediately, Sam and Amanda leapt backwards, and neither of them could contain their screams no longer.

* * *

David was still inspecting the picture Isabella had shown him when the two ear-piercing screams echoed through the orphanage building. Springing up and alert, David spun around, trying to locate the source of the sound.

Isabella froze in shock until the screams died down, then her tense features softened. "Sam's here," She guessed. "I'd recognize that scream anywhere."

David scrunched up his face, confused at how calm Isabella was. "Well what is he doing here?" He asked. "And who was the other person screaming?"

"It sounded like Amanda," Isabella said, and turned her face away from David, hugging herself. "But it couldn't be her."

"Who's Amanda, and why couldn't it be her?" David asked, intrigued. Isabella turned to face him, fresh tears streaming down her cheeks.

"Amanda is dead, and it's my fault."

* * *

Once Sam and Amanda had ceased screaming, they were now trying to fully process what was going on right at the moment.

"Amanda, y-you're alive!" Sam sputtered out, still in disbelief. "But, you were dead! How could you be here?!"

"What about you?!" Amanda asked, equally dumbstruck. "I thought I'd never see you again!"

Brenda, who had just been standing awkwardly to the side the whole time, decided to intervene. "Okay, what's this all about? Who are YOU?" She pointed a finger at Amanda.

"Amanda was my best friend when I lived in this orphanage," Sam explained. "But, well, my sister got jealous and she killed her. Oh so I thought."

Sam then turned back to Amanda. "How'd you survive?" He asked.

Amanda inwardly sighed and she looked to the floor in shame. "After the...incident with your sister, I was taken to the hospital so they could treat my injury." She pulled up her shirt a few inches, revealing the scar on her abdomen.

"During my time at the hospital, I met a nice nurse," Amanda said as she covered her scar. "After my injury was fixed, the nurse adopted me, and I became her assistant."

"Oh," Sam said bluntly, still somewhat surprised.

"Once I was out of the hospital, I returned to the orphanage to see you again, but you and your sister were both gone," Amanda lamented. "Ever since then, I've gone back here to remember my time with you."

Sam smiled softly. "Well, I'm back now," He reassured. "But, my sister is here too. And we have to find her."

* * *

"When I lived here with Sam, there was a young girl named Amanda," Isabella explained to David. "She was an outcast, like Sam, so naturally the two became the best of friends.

"And you didn't like it, didn't you," David correctly guessed, narrowing his eyes at her.

"Amanda wasn't like the other orphans," Isabella said, trying to ignore David's accusation. "I...wasn't fond of her. Especially when Sam began showing her around in the Mirror dimension. So I decided to have a talk with her."

David folded his arms, unconvinced. Knowing Isabella, she surely wouldn't have been calm and collected with Amanda, especially concerning Sam.

"Things got a little out of hand, and I did a few things I regret," Isabella continued. "Because of this, Miss Collette decided to teach me a lesson. She didn't beat me, she just decided to scare me."

Isabella gestured to the mask on the floor, and David understood. Nevertheless, Isabella explained.

"Miss Collette told me of evil spirits, and boogeyman, and necromancy," Isabella explained. "She told me of how, if I continued to act this way, they'd come for and take me away to torment me. I believed her. If Mirror People exist, who's to say any of those creatures don't?"

David sighed. "So that's why you're scared of monsters and ghosts, even though you're a preteen," He commented.

"Don't mock me," Isabella snapped, jabbing a finger towards him. "That very night, I was so angry and scared, I let my emotions get the best of me. And Mirror Isabella took over my mind."

David's eyes widened as he pieced everything together. He remembered Sam's story of what had happened with Amanda, and now he realized Sam had lied.

"It wasn't Mirror Samson who attacked Amanda that night, it was Mirror Isabella!" David blurted out, interrupting Isabella. "He wanted to defend his sister so he decided to throw his brother under the rug."

As David thought about it, he added, "That's kind of selfish."

"Sam cares about Mirror Isabella," Isabella replied, pacing away from David. "He doesn't want any harm to befall her, or to incite her wrath."

"But it doesn't have to be like that," David said. "We can fix this. We can show your sister that this can work out."

"That won't work!" Isabella shouted, startling David. "You don't know what goes through Mirror Isabella's mind!"

"I know enough that she wants what's best for Sam," David replied confidently. "Sure, she's a stubborn wretch, but that doesn't mean she's totally evil!"

"That doesn't matter!" Isabella shouted back, louder than before.

"Why not?!" David screamed.

"Because Mirror Isabella has a split-personality disorder!" Isabella screamed in David's face.

David's face went blank.

"...She has a _what_?"

* * *

_Reviews are appreciated. Also, re-read Chapter 10 to see if you can spot Amanda in the chapter._


	41. Transformation

_AlecReyes19: Well, Amanda's injury did happen two years ago. Plenty of time for her to recover._

_A-Plus Cassiopeia: It means Mirror Isabella has two distinct personalities that control her at different times. There were hints to this before, like when she would appear to talk to herself or when her eyes went dark._

_BookMast3r: Yep, you were right about Amanda. And yeah, you could say it's like Gollum, just not as severe._

_And now, for anyone who couldn't guess where Amanda was in Chapter 10, I'll just reveal it here: She was the nurse's assistant._

* * *

"What do you mean Mirror Isabella has a split-personality?" David asked, growing more horrified as he began to fully comprehend what was happening.

"She developed it sometime after we moved out of the orphanage," Isabella explained, and streaks of tears began to stream down her face. "I think the pain and guilt she got from killing Amanda got to her, and the stress was too much..."

Under normal circumstances, David would have scoffed at the idea that Mirror Isabella would actually feel guilt from hurting anyone. But right now, things were gravely serious.

"When Mirror Isabella's other personality takes over, she becomes more violent and impulsive," Isabella continued. "Her eyes turn pitch black whenever it happens."

David began to pale as he remembered when he'd gotten into that fight with Mirror Isabella when she hurt Janet. He now realized that he'd been clashing with her other, more dangerous personality.

Before Isabella could continue, there was a bright flash from out the window. "What the-!" Isabella shouted as she and David hurried to the window to see what was happening.

Outside, the two saw what looked like a blue wave engulfing half the city, being omitted by a bright beam in the forest. The beam was covering more of the city every second.

"What is that?!" David shouted, his voice rising unnaturally high in his panic.

"Oh no," Isabella whispered, clutching her head. "It's Mirror Isabella. Her other personality must've taken over!"

Isabella began to stumble around the room, clutching her head in pain. Initially, David didn't take notice as he was too busy watching the whole city be engulfed by the beam. However, when he saw blew sparks begin to fly behind him, that was when he spun around to see what was happening to Isabella.

Isabella was thrashing around on the ground in agony, screaming in pain. A few blue sparks were flying from her body, and David sprang away in surprise. Two bright beams shot out of Isabella's eyes, followed by a large beam shooting from her mouth. Throughout all of this, David crammed himself into the corner of the room, genuinely terrified.

Then, Isabella's body began to transform into a light blue, followed by her hair, which turned blue and became longer. A blue light omitted from her body, and Isabella got to her feet, her head hanging low.

When she raised her head, David found himself faced with the piercing blue eyes of Mirror Isabella.

David opened his mouth and took in gasping breaths, silently screaming. His eyes were as wide as they could be, and he was backing himself up like a cornered rat. Mirror Isabella was now floating in the air, and her eyes went dark, and David felt like his blood had turned to ice.

_"You...this is all your fault, and your sister, too," _Mirror Isabella sneered, and David knew instantly that it was her other personality that was currently in control.

David was terrified, but he finally found his voice, and he shot back. "It wasn't me who doomed this city, it was you!" He accused, even in the face of growing danger. "You're going to destroy an entire city because you can't let your little brother go?!"

_"Samson doesn't belong with you!" _Evil-Mirror Isabella shot back, sparks flying out of her body more rapidly. _"The longer he stays with you and your family, the more you'll turn him against me! I'm getting rid of you so you don't take him from me!"_

"You don't need my help to turn Sam against you!" David screamed in anger. "You've done all of that yourself!"

_"Shut up!" _Evil-Mirror Isabella cried out, her eyes glowing in anger. _"Just SHUT UP!"_

David suddenly regained his fear as he saw that Evil-Mirror Isabella's glowing eyes were trained on him, and they were glowing brighter. Realizing what was about to happen, David took off towards the door and scrambled to open it. Before he could race through it, Evil-Mirror Isabella fired her eye lasers at him. David ducked to avoid the lasers and they blasted the door apart. Instantly, David raced out the door and through the hallway.

As David ran down the hallway, he turned his head around to see Evil-Mirror Isabella float into the hallway and stare at him for a moment. David began to run even faster as he saw Evil-Mirror Isabella open her mouth, and a blew flame omitted in it. Immediately, a blast of fire was breathed out of Evil-Mirror Isabella's mouth and raced towards David, who ripped the door open and raced through it before slamming it shut. Before he could resume running down the stairs, the door was blasted apart, sending David flying down the stairs and onto the floor below.

Groaning in pain, David got to his feet, and he could feel blood oozing from his knee. In spite of the pain resonating from his leg, David hobbled down the stairs as he felt the blue flames begin to burn through the walls of the orphanage.

* * *

"What's happening?!" Brenda cried out in terror as the building caught fire in seconds. The three were surrounded by massive blue flames as they spread through the hallways.

"Look out!" Sam cried as he tackled Brenda and Amanda to save them from being crushed by falling debris. The orphanage had been around for decades, and its old age was finally catching up to it as a result of the fire.

"This building won't hold up for long!" Amanda cried out as the building was being engulfed by flames. Brenda looked around the room in a panic, trying to find some exit, and her eyes landed on an open window.

"There, the window!" Brenda shouted to alert Sam and Amanda. the window was being blocked by a wall of fire, but it was their only viable escape exit. Without hesitation, Sam picked up Brenda and Amanda and carried them towards the window and dove through it before the flames overtook them.

The three crashed onto the ground outside, where a crowd had gathered around the flaming building.

Scrambling to his feet, Sam shouted out, "David? Isabella?!"

"Who's Isabella?" Brenda asked as she struggled to get to her feet. Before Amanda or Sam could answer her, a nearby window was smashed open, followed by David diving out of it. The crowd gasped in shock as David went plummeting downwards.

"Oh my gosh!" Sam shouted as he jumped up and caught David before he fell. Floating onto the ground, Sam laid David onto the ground. Part if his jacket was on fire, his knee was bleeding, and he had a few scrapes, but he was otherwise okay.

"Where's Isabella?" Sam asked, concerned.

"She transformed into Mirror Isabella," David mumbled out, dazed from his lucky escape. "She's still in the building."

At that moment, Janet and Ballard raced through the crowd and stopped in front of Sam and David. As Janet got off of Ballard, she looked up and saw the burning building.

Putting her hands on her hips, Janet said, "Okay, what did I miss?"

Suddenly, a window was blown open and Mirror Isabella went flying out of the orphanage, her eyes ablaze with rage. The crowd all looked up at her and immediately, everyone scattered and raced for safety.

David got to his feet, saw Mirror Isabella hovering towards them, and then turned to Janet to answer her question.

"Little sister, you haven't missed anything."

* * *

_Reviews are appreciated._


	42. The Battle

_AlecReyes19: That was the only name I could come up with for Mirror Isabella's second personality. Keep in mind, in this chapter, Mirror Isabella is in her second personality the whole time._

_BookMast3r: It was about time, I say._

_A-Plus Cassiopeia: Well, was she truly sane to begin with._

* * *

Mirror Isabella soared from the flaming building as the terrified citizens scattered away from the scene to avoid any more carnage. The only ones who hadn't run away were Sam, the Barrets, Brenda, and Amanda.

"Hey, Janet, you're back," Brenda greeted as she saw Janet. However, the moment Janet saw her, her blue eyes blazed with anger.

"Brenda!" She hissed in a voice that was foreign to everyone else. "How dare you show your face here!"

Before Brenda could respond, Janet shouted out and lunged at her, knocking her onto the ground with a thud. Then, Janet began to wail on Brenda's face and chest with her tiny fists. Brenda struggled to free herself, but Janet was surprisingly strong and kept her pinned on the ground.

"Wait, Janet stop! I'm good now!" Brenda pleaded, raising her hands to shield her face.

"You tried to expose Sam's secret to the whole city!" Janet screamed as she continued to beat Brenda, who was openly begging and screaming now. A few inches away, Sam, David, and Amanda watched on, forgetting about Mirror Isabella. Sam was staring at the two in disbelief, Amanda was covering her mouth in shock, and David was smirking a bit.

"That a girl," He whispered proudly as he smiled.

Suddenly, a blue beam shot down towards the children, reverting their attention back to Mirror Isabella. A car exploded from the blast, causing Sam, David and Amanda to be sent flying a few feet away. Janet stopped pummeling Brenda and looked up to see Mirror Isabella, and immediately got off of Brenda.

"Janet, get out of here!" David said as he got up and grabbed Janet by the arm, pulling her behind a car.

Groaning, Brenda got to her feet, rubbing her bruised face. She then looked to Mirror Isabella, who was flying closer now. Brenda squinted her eyes as she recognized the girl in front of her.

"I-Izzy?" She whispered in disbelief, struggling to speak as a result of the beating Janet had delivered to her. Her bruised eyes widened in shock, and she totally forgot about her injuries.

Mirror Isabella was now hovering a few inches off the ground, and was several feet away from Brenda, facing her. Her eyes were narrowed at Brenda, not recognizing her.

"Who are you?" Mirror Isabella asked, her arms folded across her chest.

"I-I'm Brenda," Brenda said, hoping that her best friend would recognize her. "You know, your best friend. You've known me for two years, we did so much things together."

Mirror Isabella hissed in outrage. "No Earth-Dimension human is worthy to be my sister's friend!" She cried out and fired a volt of electricity out of her fingertips, aimed at Brenda. However, Sam jumped out and tackled Brenda out of the harm's way.

Brenda was breathing heavily in shock, in disbelief that her best friend had just tried to kill her. "Stay here," Sam said to her before getting up and running towards Mirror Isabella.

"Izzy," Brenda whispered in sadness.

Sam charged at Mirror Isabella and tackled her, knocking her onto the ground. David and Janet got out of their hiding spots to watch the spectacle before them.

"How dare you attack me, Samson Crystal!" Mirror Isabella hissed as she struggled with Sam on the street. "I'm your sister!"

"I'm sorry, but I can't let you do this!" Sam shouted back at her as she struggled to pin her on the ground. However, he was at a severe disadvantage; Mirror Isabella was bigger and stronger than he was. Before long, she'd managed to throw Sam off of her. Before Sam could get up, she shoved him back on the ground.

"Stay down!" Mirror Isabella ordered him before turning towards Janet. Her eyes focused on the younger girl and began to glow bright blue.

"No!" David shouted and catapulted himself at Mirror Isabella, unwilling to let his sister get hurt. However, he'd so impulsively attacked that he'd forgotten that Mirror Isabella had super-strength. Before he could react, Mirror Isabella backhanded him, sending him flying several feet away. He landed on his face on the hard pavement.

"David!" Janet screamed in horror, but then jumped down to avoid Mirror Isabella's ice blast. Janet raced off as Mirror Isabella continued to fire several blasts of ice towards her.

At the same time, Sam began to get up, but was knocked over by the mirror woodpecker. The bird began to rip and poke at Sam's hair, and he began to swing up at it. The woodpecker flew up into the air before diving down at Sam once more. Before it could attack, however, it was zapped by a volt of electricity. The bird squawked in pain and landed on the ground with a thud, steam billowing up from its body.

Sam's eyes widened in shock and he turned around to see Ballard, mewing softly. In spite of what was happening, Sam smiled in relief.

Behind Mirror Isabella, David got up, clenching his jaw and feeling warm blood oozing down. He felt like his jaw was broken, but he knew he had to save his sister. Suddenly, a truck screeched to a halt in front of him. David looked up.

There, only a few inches away, was the same truck driver who had struck Sam with his truck several days ago. Suddenly, he got an idea.

The truck driver rolled down his windshield. "Um, is something important happening?" He asked as he saw Mirror Isabella attacked Janet. David nodded, then added, "Could I use your truck for a moment?"

At the same time, Janet had hid behind a taxi car to avoid Mirror Isabella's attacks. Coincidentally, Amanda was hiding behind the same car.

"Hey, I know you," Janet said once she saw her. "You're the nurse's assistant I met back at the hospital."

"My name's Amanda, and I'm Sam's orphanage friend," Amanda introduced quickly in response, her mind still on Mirror Isabella.

"You're who?" Janet asked in amazement. Their conversation was cut short, however, as Mirror Isabella unleashed a blast of fire that set the car alight. Amanda grabbed Janet by the arm and dragged her away from the burning car.

As Mirror Isabella was about to give chase, the truck, driving at full speed, collided with her and sent her flying through the window of a toy store. Multiple toy shelves went toppling down as Mirror Isabella crashed into them.

Sam, Janet, Amanda, and Brenda ran towards the truck to see David at the driver's seat. He breathed a sigh of relief as he opened the door to get out.

"You just hit my sister," Sam said, narrowing his eyes at David. The older boy just glared back at him, folding his arms. Amanda, meanwhile, got an idea.

"Hey, those are all monster masks!" Amanda pointed out as she saw all the masks in the store. "Isabella's scared of monsters, so her reflection should me as well!"

"Yes!" Everyone else, including the truck driver, said simultaneously.

The children took off towards the store and dove through the windows. They began to grab at the masks all piled up in front of them. Janet grabbed a goblin mask and put it on while David grabbed a human skull and placed it on his head.

A shelf was thrown into the air as Mirror Isabella burst out of the pile, her face bruised and her hair unkempt. She was growling in fury and agony, and her teeth were bared and her eyes ablaze with fury.

"Janet, where are you!" She screeched in anger, rubbing her sore face. However, it was then that she noticed all the monster masks around her, and her face shifted from anger to fear.

"Ugh..." She whispered, uncomfortable with all the masks and symbols laid out before her. She began to shuffle out of the pile to get out of the store, but was surprised when David jumped out at her, wearing his skeleton mask.

Mirror Isabella screamed and stumbled backwards in surprise, landing in the pile of masks. As she looked up, she saw several more monsters appear before her.

"Who are you?" She asked, forgetting about Janet.

"That does not matter," David said, lowering his voice to a throaty growl. "What matters is that we have come for _you_."

"No!" Mirror Isabella screamed and fired a laser at David, but he dodged it. Mirror Isabella began to stumble backwards as she found herself surrounded.

"No, leave me alone!" She cried, genuinely scared. Without her seeing, Sam used his transparent vectors to grab Mirror Isabella and begin to choke her.

"No! No, I haven't done anything wrong!" Mirror Isabella screamed as she was choked.

"Yes, you have, and you shall pay with your life, Mirror Isabella Crystal," David warned solemnly. Sam began to tighten his grip on Mirror Isabella's neck, causing tears to leak out of her eyes.

"No, I don't want to die!" She was screaming, thrashing around. "I don't want to die!" As she said this, the blue aura around her began to fade. Her blue hair reverted back to red, her pitch black eyes turned blue again, and her pale blue skin returned to terracotta colored.

"She...she left," Amanda whispered in disbelief.

Now restored to normal, Isabella go to her feet, and Amanda ducked behind one of the shelves to avoid being seen.

"What-what happened?" She asked, dazed and drowsy. Before anyone could explain, the store began to glow blue.

"Oh no," David whispered as he remembered that the city was being engulfed by Mirror Isabella's mirror. Without speaking, Sam grabbed David and Janet while Amanda held onto Sam's neck. The four took off into the air while Isabella grabbed Brenda. They two flew out through the broken window and out into the air. Ballard flew up with them.

The group flew up into the night sky and observed below them, the whole city, totally submerged by the blue beam. Despite being so high up, David could see millions of people below him, all frozen and trapped by the beam. He let a single tear drip out as he realized that his parents were probably trapped as well.

Then, before anyone could blink, the whole city vanished before their eyes. The beam disappeared in a bright flash, leaving not a trace of the city. All that was their was pavement, but nothing else. One could be arrive and not have known a city had been there at all.

After a few moments of awe, the group landed back into the ground. Isabella gently lay Brenda on the ground and stared off at the forest, which was still intact. She was staring off in the direction that the mirror was.

"Oh my gosh," She whispered and then, she flew at top speed towards the forest, towards the mirror. In her haste, she hadn't even noticed Amanda, who had only been a few inches away from her the whole time.

"The city...it's gone," Janet whispered, in disbelief. She crumpled onto the ground, still trying to process what had just happened mere moments before. Sam and Brenda knelt down to console her, while David stared off in the direction Isabella had gone to.

After a few moments, David narrowed his eyes and clenched his fists in determination. He didn't know how he was going to do it, but he had a clear goal.

He was going to save the city.

* * *

_Reviews are appreciated._


	43. The Alignment

_A-Plus Cassiopeia: Well, we're officially in the third act now._

_AlecReyes19: Well, I wanted David to contribute in defeating her. As for Amanda, that was just for anyone else who didn't know._

_NatalieHawk: Well, look at what Brenda had done to Janet earlier on. I mean, I'd be pretty upset too._

* * *

David snuck through the forest, in search of the mirror. While the rest of the group had briefly stayed behind in the location where Crystal City had been located, David had set off into the forest. His objective was clear to him; he was going to find the mirror, travel through the dimension, and somehow, he was going to free the city, and his parents.

He tried to remain calm throughout the ordeal, as one should be in a situation like this. However, things felt different now. The forest, which he was so used to passing through, now seemed gloomy, cryptic. It was practically nighttime now, and the only source of light was the half-moon in the sky. The only sounds were the blowing of the freezing wind and the soft footsteps he made on the ground.

_Stay focused, _He thought. _You have a city to save. You can't panic now._

He knew where the mirror was located, so it didn't take him long to find it. Removing the branches and leaves covering it, David prepared to enter through it.

For a brief moment, be paused as he considered things properly. What would happen once he entered through there? What was he going to do to stop Mirror Isabella, who was much more powerful than he was? How did he know Mirror Isabella hadn't destroyed the city yet?

However, the braver part of him told him he had to do it. He had to go through that mirror, and find Mirror Isabella, and stop her. Then, without another hesitation, he dove through the mirror, and found himself in the Mirror dimension.

Instantly, he shoved through the door and began to sprint down the pitch black hallways. He mused to himself momentarily at how anyone ever managed to get through the hallways in the dim shading, especially since there were no light switches.

As he turned down the hallway, he wondered where Isabella had disappeared to. He was hoping she'd have the heart in her to try and stop her reflection, but he didn't get his hopes up too high.

David had become so lost in his thoughts that he had only just noticed that the door leading into the gym with the stage was glowing from the inside. Intrigued, David creaked the door open a bit to see what was going on inside. What he saw was the most shocking thing he'd ever witnessed.

Inside the massive room were dozens of mirror people, all of them slow dancing. The majority were dancing with their respective reflections, but a few were dancing with what appeared to be fiancés or friends. What stood out was that they were all wearing dazzling bright colors, even brighter than Mirror Isabella's gown. David was nearly blinded by how astonishingly bright the room was, in stark contrast to the hallways.

David then suddenly realized that he couldn't be seen. If Mirror Isabella was to be an example, it was that the mirror people did not want any Earth-dimension people in the mirror dimension. Quickly, David closed the door and turned to continue down the hallway.

Before he could get more than a few inches, a second door opened up. David froze in fear as to girls walked out of the room.

It was Ophelia and Pandora. Ophelia was doubled-over and looked like she was about to puke, and was being half-carried by Pandora. David froze, hoping they wouldn't notice him as they passed by.

The two stopped at the wall and Pandora rather roughly patted Ophelia on the back several times. Eventually, Ophelia puked onto the ground for a solid ten seconds.

David's eyes widened in shock as he bore witness to suck a revolting sight. He didn't know what Ophelia had consumed to make her do that, but what he did know was that he was probably going to hurl from seeing that.

Ophelia, meanwhile, straightened up and wiped her mouth with her hand before sighing in relief. Then, she turned to go back into the room. Unfortunately for David, she happened to turn right into his direction.

David's pupils shrank as he was spotted by both girls. For a moment, he just stared at them in shock, not saying a word. Ophelia made the smallest of gestures, and instantly, Pandora sprinted behind David and grabbed him.

"Well, looks like our boy toy didn't get the memo last time," Ophelia sneered maliciously as Pandora twisted David's arm behind his back. It was taking all of his strength to keep from screaming out in agony.

"Alright, kid, looks like you're going to need another lesson in pain," Ophelia threatened as she approached him. Before she could touch him, however, she and Pandora were suddenly grabbed and hurled into a wall. David let out a sigh as he was freed from Pandora's iron-like grip. Turning to the wall, he saw Isabella pinning both girls to the wall, her hands wrapped around their throats.

"You leave him alone," She growled at the two, who were currently struggling for air.

"Yes, we'll leave him alone, Bella, we promise," Ophelia said, her face turning red from a lack of oxygen. David gained a bit of amusement from seeing the girl who had acted so strong moments before suddenly turn so cowardly.

Isabella released the two girls and they ran off back into the gym. The moment they were gone, Isabella turned towards David, and all amusement left him upon seeing the hateful glare she was administering him.

"What are you doing here, Mr. Barret?" Isabella asked angrily. "Do you have a death wish, or something?"

David would never admit it, but he had always been scared of Isabella when she was angry, and this time was no exception. However, he suddenly remembered the millions of lives that were at stake, and a newfound courage filled him.

"I'm hear to rescue my city, Isabella Crystal," David affirmed. For a moment, Isabella looked shocked at David's assertiveness towards her. Then, the look was replaced with boredom.

"That's what I'm doing, kid," She sneered. "You're not strong enough to fight Mirror Isabella. Go home."

"My home is gone, so long as Mirror Isabella has that mirror," David reminded. "I have to save my home."

"How are you going to do that?" Isabella asked, stalking towards David and showing herself to be a few inches taller than him. "You're powerless, you can't stop her?"

"I did in the city, when I worked together with the others," David said, and suddenly, he got an idea. "Join me."

"What?" Isabella asked as David's request struck her like a fist. "You want me to join you? How could that work?"

"It'll work because we're so much alike," David said, holding out his hand to Isabella.

Isabella's eyes widened at David's statement. "You and me, alike?" She asked, sounding like she was going to start laughing at such a seemingly ridiculous statement. "You're nothing like me."

"Yes, I am," David said, not losing confidence.

Isabella's face went serious as she realized that David wasn't joking. "Okay, smart guy, how are we alike in any way?" She asked, folding her arms and awaiting an answer. David's answer was immediate.

"We're alike because we both don't have the best living environments," He began, as he thought up a few more. "Our family doesn't always listen to us, even when they should. And because of that, we've become bitter people. We think our lives our hell so we take it out on everyone else, ignoring their problems in the process. But more important than that, we have a sibling, who we love, and who looks up to us. And neither of us have been good role models to them."

David's face fell as he said those final words. He remembered when he'd been with Janet. She'd been his best friend since she was born. They'd done so much together. But he'd neglected her thoughts. He'd pushed her off even when she could've helped him in situations. He didn't always listen to her, even when he should've.

And yet, she was one of the best people he knew. She hadn't turned herself away from anyone, or neglected to help them when they were in need. She'd saved Sam, even if she could've died in the process. She helped him see the good in people, when most would probably have let him be.

"In fact, I think our younger siblings are better people than us," He lamented to Isabella. "You don't see them fighting with each other like brats."

He hadn't noticed that Isabella's face had softened through this. Her shoulders remained tense, but her eyebrow was raised, in curiosity, and then in some sense of admiration.

"You really think you can do this?" She asked for confirmation.

"I'm not sure, but it's worth a try," David said, gaining a smile almost as bright as Janet's default expression. For a few moments, Isabella remained uncertain. And then, slowly, she smiled too, and took his hand.

"Let's do this," She said, determined.

* * *

_Reviews are appreciated._


	44. Trapped

_AlecReyes19: Well, what is David supposed to do? Pretend like the city DIDN'T disappear?_

_A-Plus Cassiopeia: Yep, let's just see if it'll work._

_BookMast3r: Well, this story is almost finished, so no MAJOR plot twists at the moment._

* * *

By this point, Sam, Janet, Brenda, and Amanda had entered through the Mirror dimension by now. With Sam at the lead, the four navigated through the hallway.

"I can't believe Izzy is a mirror person," Brenda whispered as she tiptoed behind the other children. "Seriously, what other secrets has she been hiding these past two years?"

"Oh, a lot, really," Sam said, though he didn't elaborate. His eyes were glowing bright blue in the darkness, which he was using as flashlights to help the four of them see where they were going.

"So, what are we going to do when we find Izzy's reflection?" Brenda asked nervously, huddled between Janet and Amanda and shivering.

"I don't know yet," Sam whispered in response. "But we have to do something."

"Maybe we should find David and Isabella," Janet suggested, and Amanda tensed a bit. She wouldn't admit it, but she was still somewhat scared of Isabella after what had transpired at the orphanage two years prior.

Sam stopped the group in the middle of the hallway. "Look, there's a doorway," He said, pointing to a door at the end of the hallway. "That leads outside." The four began to sprint towards the door, but before they could get far, Kizzy and Lizzy passed in front of them, both of them mumbling about something.

Sam attempted to hide away, but he wasn't quick enough. The two girls turned around and faced the four, and all eyes widened in mixtures of shock and terror.

For a few moments, everyone was quiet. Everyone waited for whoever was brave enough to speak up.

Eventually, Kizzy finally found her voice. "Sam, what are these three doing here?" She asked, her voice sending shivers down Sam's spine. He didn't know how to respond to her, especially with Lizzy with her.

However, he didn't need to. Janet walked in front of Sam, as if she were shielding him from the two girls. "We're here to save the city," She explained, firmly but not aggressively.

"Save the city?" Lizzy asked. "From what?"

Janet realized that Mirror Isabella hadn't informed either of the two of what she had just done since it would only have hindered her. She breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that the two weren't in on what Mirror Isabella had done.

"Mirror Isabella trapped the city somewhere," She went on. "We're here to find her."

Kizzy and Lizzy simultaneously got a confused look on their face as they processed what had happened. "You mean to tell me that our guardian just caused a whole city to vanish?" Kizzy asked. Janet nodded.

Lizzy and Kizzy began to whisper to themselves, and then their eyes brightened up. "Her mirror!" Lizzy half-shouted, half-whispered. "She created a mirror that can trap anything she has seen within it. She probably trapped the whole city inside of it."

"She what?" Sam shouted. "We need to find it before she does something crazy!"

"She ran off into the forest," Kizzy explained. "At first, we were confused. She'd called a bunch of people here for this party, and then she just ran off when they arrived. Now I see why she did that."

"Well, we have to go find her," Sam said, and he gestured for the group to follow him towards the door. However, Kizzy called out, "You might want to be careful! There are wolves in that forest."

For a moment, all four froze a bit, and Sam turned to face the other three. "Mirror Isabella often feeds a group of wolves near a tar pit. That's probably where she went."

"Do you really think we can fight off those wolves?" Brenda asked, uncertain.

"We'll never know unless we try," Sam said. "So let's go." The group was about to walk towards the door, but Amanda paused when she heard what sounded like weeping coming from down the corridors.

"I know that sound," She whispered, then said, "Guys, go on. I need to go find someone." With that, she ran down the hallways.

The remaining three pushed open the door, and found themselves outside. Outside, everything was a bright, colorful, and glittery blue. The ground and lakes looked like they were made out of crystal, and the three could see two blue moons up in the sky.

"Wow..." Brenda whispered in awe. "I never thought I'd see something like this..."

"Yeah, I know, it's beautiful, let's go," Sam said, uninterested as he'd seen the Mirror dimension much more times than she had. Grabbing Brenda and Janet by the arms, he dragged them towards the forest to find Mirror Isabella.

* * *

As Sam had predicted, Mirror Isabella had indeed arrived at the tar pit in the forest.

It was the largest area of asphalt in the forest, and was infamous for how it would suck in anything that got stuck in it. Often, children would throw things like rocks and twigs into the pit just to see how it sucked in. Mirror Isabella, especially, loved to do this. It was one of the only things she truly enjoyed.

Currently, she was holding the mirror in her hands. Holding it to her face, she saw the whole city, trapped within the glass. She smirked a bit, not of happiness but relief. She knew exactly what she'd do. She'd throw the mirror into the tar pit, and Sam and Isabella would be free of their obsession.

Raising the mirror over her head, she prepared to throw it in. She sucked in a huge breath as she prepared to throw it into the par pit and be rid of it forever. However, she felt like something was stopping her.

Even with the mirror raised right over the pit, it was like something was keeping her from simply dropping it in. She strained her arm, as if struggling to deposit it into the tar pit, but she felt overpowered.

_Just do it, _That voice in her head was whispering towards her. _Why do you hesitate? Everyone in that city is flawed, crude. They deserve this. Just let the mirror go._

Yet, even as the mirror was held limply by her fingers, she felt trapped, almost like the city was within the mirror. After a few moments, she backed away from the tar pit and against a tree.

"If I do this, I'm never going back," She whispered as she sunk down onto the ground, covering her face as tears began to seep out of her eyes.

She didn't want to do this, she never did. She'd wished she'd never done it.

"Mirror Isabella."

Instantly, the girl looked up to see Isabella and David standing in front of her. As she saw the beside each other, her despair was replaced with anxiety.

"What are you doing here?" She asked, getting to her feet. "Isabella, why are you with him."

"We just want the mirror," David replied firmly. "I want my family back, my city. Just hand it over."

Mirror Isabella's fingers tightened around the handle of the mirror, and her eyes narrowed at the two. "Y-You can't have it!" She snapped angrily. "I'm doing this for Sam."

"No, you're not," Isabella said. "You're harming him, and I know you don't want to do this."

Mirror Isabella hugged herself as she felt herself cornered by the two. She felt like cat, trapped with no way out. However, cats would fight back when they were cornered.

Standing straight, Mirror Isabella glared at the two angrily. "You can't have the city!" She shouted as her eyes darkened. She aimed a finger at David and a sparkle of electricity was fired at him. David dodged and the lightning zapped against a tree.

"I was hoping things wouldn't have to end in violence," Isabella lamented as she took a fighting stance. As she did so, dozens of eyes began to peer out from in the forest and stared at the three.

Isabella recognized what eyes those belonged to.

Wolves.

* * *

_Reviews are appreciated._


	45. Final Confrontation

_BookMast3r: Well, here it is, the final confrontation, so I hope it doesn't disappoint._

_A-Plus Cassiopeia: Since I already explained it to you, I don't feel I need to now._

_NatalieHawk: Good thing you like it so far. As for Mirror Isabella, she only thinks she's doing the right thing, but everyone knows she's wrong._

_I'm still here: You bet._

_Author's Note: I spent a lot of time thinking of how this confrontation should go, including it's resolution. After quite some time, I decided to go with this one, so keep on reading._

* * *

Amanda had recognized the sobbing she'd heard through the corridors. It belonged to Mirror Samson. She hadn't seen him in two years, but she'd still been able to recognize his voice.

It didn't take long before she found Isabella's room. Pushing the door open, she saw the tiny door in the wall where the source of the crying was coming from. Sprinting silently towards the door, she found a key on Isabella's table. She quickly grabbed the key and used it to unlock the door.

Slowly, the door creaked open, to reveal Mirror Samson crouched inside. His neck and face were bruised from where Mirror Isabella had beaten and strangled him, and he looked like a mouse caught in a trap.

"Mirror Sam," Amanda whispered to him. Slowly, he opened his eyes to see whoever had unlocked the door and freed him. Almost instantly, he made a loud gasp and his eyes widened in shock as he recognized her.

"A-Amanda!" He shouted in surprise, almost choking in disbelief. Amanda grabbed him by the arm and yanked him outside of the room.

"Y-You're alive!" He shouted, still trying to process that she was actually in front of him. "Aren't you alive? You're not a ghost, are you?"

"No, I'm alive, Mirror Sam," Amanda whispered to him, trying to keep her voice down as to not attract attention from anyone in the party down the hallway. "I was sent to this hospital and they fixed me. I'm fine now."

Mirror Samson opened his mouth to respond, but then he froze in horror. Amanda stared at him in confusion, then turned around, and nearly swore to herself.

There, at the entrance of the door, was ever Mirror person from the party, Ophelia and Pandora at the front. Ophelia had her arm outstretched and pointed at Amanda.

"I told you Earth-dimension people were in the Mirror dimension," She said triumphantly. Amanda could hear a few gasps of shock and murmured whispers riveting from the crowd, all squeezed in the hallway.

"Is that Amanda the orphan girl?"

"I thought she was dead?"

"Is she a ghost? An apparition?"

It was clear that quite a few people recognized her since the last time she'd been in the Mirror dimension, but now was not the time for explanations. She realized that in the forest, Mirror Isabella had the whole city trapped inside the mirror.

Without thinking, Amanda rushed towards the crowd, which all backed away in shock.

"Excuse me, pardon me, watch out!" She shouted as she squeezed through the crowd and started to make her way through the hallway and towards the door leading outside.

* * *

In the forest, Isabella and Mirror Isabella were exchanging blasts of ice and electricity at each other. Mirror Isabella was careful not to try and kill her counterpart, though; if Isabella died, she would die too.

David grabbed a tree branch and hurled it like a spear at Mirror Isabella. It nicked her arm, causing her to gasp in anguish, and she fired a blast of electricity at him. David dodged it as the lightning strike struck a tree next to him, the blast sending him flying a few feet away.

"David!" Isabella said, distracted. Mirror Isabella took the opportunity to sprint to the side and fired a beam out of her eye at Isabella, but she managed to dodge it.

That's when David saw them. Dozens of wolves, running out from the trees, coming from all directions. Their fur was pitch black, blending into the night perfectly, and their eyes were a crystal blue. They were like demons, lurking through the night.

The pack were all set on Isabella; she was the biggest threat, after all. Isabella found herself surrounded by them; they circled around her, howling and barking at her, occasionally snapping their jaws at her.

Mirror Isabella laughed triumphantly, waving the mirror up in the air. "You'll never get your city back!" She exclaimed triumphantly. Just as she'd said that, Sam doze out from the trees and grabbed the mirror right out of Mirror Isabella's hand.

Giving a gasp of surprise, Mirror Isabella turned to look at Sam, who rolled around on the ground, the mirror in his hands. Before she could do anything, Brenda arrived and rammed into her, causing her to stumble into one of the wolves.

A few wolves charged at Brenda and Janet, but Isabella fired blasts of ice at them, encasing their limbs in ice. Sam, at the same time, got to his feet, the mirror in his hands.

"I've got it," He said to David, who had gotten up as well. Suddenly, Mirror Isabella tackled him to the ground, grappling with him for the mirror.

"Give it back!" She hissed, her eyes darkening, as she pinned Sam to the ground. Sam responded by firing a blue beam out of his hands, sending Mirror Isabella flying into the air and landing on the ground. Sam got up, but one of the wolves charged at him and fired a blast of ice out of his eyes. Quickly, Sam threw the mirror towards David, who caught it in his hands.

One of the wolves fired a blast of electricity out of his mouth at David, who leapt into the air to avoid the blast. However, he stumbled in midair and began to topple towards the tar pit. Isabella, thinking quickly, conjured an ice bridge over the tar pit and under David. David landed on the bridge and slid over the pit and landed on the ground.

"Isabella, catch!" He shouted as he threw the mirror towards her. However, Mirror Isabella kicked her out of the way and reached out to grab the mirror. Before she could, one of Sam's transparent arms shot out and snatched the mirror away. Suddenly, a wolf knocked Sam to the ground, then swiped at him, sending him flying into a tree.

Janet grabbed the mirror, fumbling with it. Mirror Isabella took one look at her and fired a blast of lightning, aimed at her chest.

"Janet, look out!" Brenda shouted and shoved Janet out of the way. The blast of lightning struck her in the stomach, and she went soaring into a tree and crashed onto the ground, injured but still alive.

"Brenda!" Janet shouted out in anguish. Suddenly, a wolf tackled her to the ground. The massive wolf kept Janet pinned under him, and he snapped at her face. However, Janet, in a moment of flexibility and an adrenaline rush, kicked the wolf off of her, sending him flying into the tar pit.

For a moment, everyone stopped fighting. All eyes were now on the wolf, who was currently struggling as the tar pit engulfed him. It was almost like the pit had a mind of its own; it wrapped itself around the wolf and began pulling him under. The wolf's frantic attempts to free itself only made him sink faster. He howled out for help, but none came. Eventually, he was totally submerged under the pit.

Janet stared at the pit in shock, trying to process the thought that she had actually killed another living being. She was so distracted that she didn't notice Mirror Isabella lunge at her and put her in a headlock.

"Give me the mirror, you rotten louse!" Mirror Isabella hissed as she began to choke Janet. Janet began to kick out and strike at Mirror Isabella, screaming out as she struck at her assailant. Several transparent arms began to reach out for the mirror, but Janet kept it out of reach.

"Janet!" David shouted out and he was about to charge at the two, but Sam grabbed his arm.

"Let me go!" David shouted, but Sam pointed at Isabella, who was behind Mirror Isabella and Janet. Currently, her finger was aimed at Mirror Isabella's back, and a spark of electricity was beginning to form from her finger.

Before she could fire, a shoe flew out and struck Mirror Isabella in the side of the head, causing her to let go of Janet, who ran towards Sam and David. All eyes turned towards who had thrown the show.

It was Amanda.

Isabella's whole body paled. Her pupils shrunk and her breathing began ragged as she saw her.

_No, it couldn't be, _She thought to herself as she saw the nine-year-old girl in front of her. _She's dead. There's no way it's her._

It appeared that Mirror Isabella had been thinking the same thing, as she screamed out in surprise when she saw Amanda. Her transparent arms vanished and she stumbled backwards in disbelief.

"A-Amanda," She whispered in shock. "No...You, you're dead."

"No, I'm not dead," Amanda said, still standing in place. She made no movements except for her mouth, not wanting to provoke Mirror Isabella into violence.

Mirror Isabella forgot about the mirror for a moment, and he face turned into that of bemusement. "How are you alive?" She asked, inching a bit closer. "I killed you, didn't I?"

"No, you didn't," Amanda said, still not making any attempt to move towards Mirror Isabella. "I was treated at a hospital. I survived."

Mirror Isabella blinked once, still perplexed. "What are you doing here?" She asked, gesturing towards her. "You know the dangers that are here."

"I came here to stop you," Amanda said. "Since back at the orphanage, since I first saw you I knew something was wrong. I-"

"Wrong? You think there was something wrong with me?" Mirror Isabella interrupted, and for a breath moment, she appeared angry. Isabella took aim once more, just in case the reflection attacked.

"You don't know what it's like, being forced into a role of guardianship after both your parents just died," Mirror Isabella hissed angrily. "To have to look after three people, who you aren't even that much older than. Do you think you know what that's like?" Her shoulders bunched up in anger.

Amanda stared at her hard, not faltering. "No, but I know what it's like to lose your parents," She said calmly. "I lost my parents at a young age, and when I was in the orphanage, nobody cared about me. Everyone else thought I was weird, so they picked on me, and it was like that for years."

Mirror Isabella's face softened and her body became less tense. She remembered when she was younger, few people seemed concerned with her, but at the same time, nobody ever tried to provoke her. She had realized only recently it was because everyone was scared of her.

"You may think I didn't go through much, but I did," Amanda said. "I was on my own, until I met your brother. You may not have noticed, but he had the same problems I did."

"You don't know Sam!" Mirror Isabella shouted defensively, and she pointed at Sam, then back at Amanda.

"I know that he was an orphan, and that everyone bullied him, even you," Amanda said, not bothering to try and sugarcoat things. "I remember that when you were really angry, you took your frustration out on him, and Isabella, and your friends."

Mirror Isabella stopped to consider this.

"I know you went through trauma, but destroying a whole city is not going to fix it," Amanda said, hoping she was making some progress with Mirror Isabella. She inched a bit closer towards her, and outstretched her arm towards her.

"You don't have to be alone," She whispered as she put her hand on Mirror Isabella's shoulder. As she did that, everyone heard one of the wolves growl. It appeared to have become suspicious of Amanda, and went on the offensive.

Before anyone could stop it, the wolf fired a blue beam at Amanda, who had barely enough time to react.

Sam saw the beam, the way it soared at Amanda. He remembered, two years ago, when that same beam had injured Amanda, and caused him to be removed from the orphanage. He knew he couldn't let it happen again. He had to stop it.

"NO!" He shouted and bolted between Amanda and the beam. He was struck in the stomach, and the force of the blast sent him tumbling towards the tar pit. Mirror Isabella made a futile attempt to grab him, but she wasn't quick enough. With a splash, Sam collapsed into the tar pit, and just like before, he began to be sucked in.

"Sam!" Janet shouted in panic and she dove towards the pit, trying frantically to grab his arm. He outstretched his arm towards her, but he only an inch out of reach from her. The tar pit was powerful, and began to engulf him and swarm over him.

"No, Sam!" Mirror Isabella shouted, and her transparent arms shot out to grab him, but before she could, Sam was submerged under the tar pit.

"Sam!" Janet shouted in anguish as she looked around the tar pit frantically, but she couldn't see any sign of him.

Sam was gone.

* * *

_Reviews are appreciated._


	46. Aftermath

_A-Plus Cassiopeia: Well, he sure tried._

_BookMast3r: Ah, comparing this to LOTR, as usual. Well, as for Mirror Isabella, let's just see what happens next._

* * *

For what seemed like an eternity, everything was silent. Nobody moved at all; they all stared, rigid, at the tar pit, which had ceased moving. It looked as if nothing had ever been inside it.

The only movement was from Janet, who trembled slightly, the mirror limply in her hand. She was crouched on her knees, only a mere inch from the pit, and looked as if she might dive in to rescue Sam herself.

A few feet away, Mirror Isabella stood silently and let a few crystalline tears stream out of her eyes and down her cheeks. They dropped onto the ground around her feet and turned to ice. Isabella herself was hugging herself tightly, her eyes shut.

David's mouth hung open, his eyes wide in disbelief, trying to desperately think of some way Sam could have survived. However, hadn't they all seen Sam get sucked under the tar pit, which minutes before had also claimed the life of one of the wolves? Turning towards his sister, David would've tried to comfort her, had he not been on the verge of tears as well.

For some time, the only sounds were Mirror Isabella's soft crying, echoing out into the night. Nobody dared try to empathize with her, for fear she would turn to violence.

That was when Janet saw it. A small, two inch wide, vortex of air, swirling dimly over the tar pit. Then, it began to widen in mass and brighten in illumination, slowly catching the eyes of everyone present. One-by-one, everyone saw the vortex as it began to expand from the tar pit, which was swirling itself as a result of the vertical flow.

Mirror Isabella was the last to see it, and her eyes brightened up as she saw a glimmer of hope.

As everyone watched on, the vortex imploded and, in a burst of crystalline, soared through the tar pit. Then, in front of their eyes, the tar pit was completely frozen in pure, transparent ice.

Just as that happened, all the mirror people from the party, Mirror Samson included, arrived in the forest, clearly having been lured in by the battle that had raged on minutes before.

"What's going on here?" Ophelia asked. Janet pointed at the tar pit, and everyone crowded around it. There, everyone saw Sam, frozen in the middle of the tar pit. Below him was the deceased body of the wolf. His eyes were closed, as if he were unconscious or dead.

"It's him," Janet whispered, and a smile began to form.

Sam's hands were above his head, and as everyone continued to watch on, fire began to form from his palms. It rocketed upwards, bursting out above the surface and breaking through the ice. Everyone jumped away as ice and crystalline clattered to the ground.

Sam burst out from the tar pit and landed on the ground, inches away from the frozen tar pit. He was worn out and breathing heavily, and sweat was pouring from his forehead.

"Sam, you're alive!" Janet shouted in joy. She practically tackled Sam in a hug, both of them rolling over each other on the ground. The next person to join the hug was David himself, not bothering to hide his glee.

Isabella smiled, her eyes glimmering in happiness. "You did it," She said. "You saved yourself."

Amanda raced over and joined Sam, Janet and David in their hug, and Isabella soon followed. Inches away, Mirror Isabella watched on, conflicted. She saw the mirror, lying on the ground where Janet had dropped it, and picked it up.

She turned around and saw eyes on her, especially from Mirror Ophelia and mirror Pandora. Kizzy and Lizzy were within the crowd, watching her silently.

By now, the group had stopped hugging and turned to face Mirror Isabella, now realizing she had the mirror. Mirror Isabella stared back at them, and her eyes met with Janet's.

Then, without a moment's hesitation, Mirror Isabella dipped her hand into the surface of the mirror.

* * *

"Ow, ow, you're hurting me!" Brenda whined as Amanda tried to bandage her wounds. It had been an hour after the city had been released, and the group had all remained in the Mirror dimension, specifically to tend to some of the injured, especially Sam and Brenda.

Currently, the two were lying in two separate beds in Sam's room, Amanda tending to both of them. Several people, mirror people or Earth-dimension alike, had joined them in the room.

"You're lucky you survived that lightning blast," Amanda reminded her. "That would've killed most people your age. Now lie down and let me help you." Brenda rolled her eyes, but complied and lied down.

Amanda finished bandaging Brenda and went over to Sam, who was lying on his bed next to Brenda. Janet was sitting on the bed with him.

Inspecting the wound on his side, Amanda said, "That's just like my injury." She briefly turned down to her abdomen, where the scar remained. "But you'll recover, and I know that from experience."

"Thanks, Amanda," Sam said, forcing a smile, still in pain from the battle that had taken place an hour before.

"No, thank you," Amanda said, smiling. "I wouldn't be alive if it hadn't been for you."

Isabella appeared in the room, wringing her arms as she stared at Amanda awkwardly. Amanda felt Isabella's presence and saw her in the room. Her expression wasn't like it usually was; rather than smug and irritable, she looked confused and guilty. Her expression made her look younger than Amanda.

"Um, Amanda, can I talk to you," She asked, nudging her head after her. Amanda stared at her, uncertain, but eventually got up from the bed and followed her.

The two walked out of the room and into the hallway. For a moment, the two said nothing, only staring off into space.

Eventually, Isabella broke the silence. "Amanda, I know you may not want to see me," She said, almost reading her thoughts perfectly. "But, I want you to know, I'm thankful that you're here right now."

Amanda's eyes widened in surprise. Ever since she'd known Isabella, the older girl had shown nothing but disdain for her.

"When you were friends with Sam, I thought that you would turn him from me, and I hated you," She admitted, and a few tears began to slip out. "But when I thought you died, I hated myself ten times as much. I didn't know if I would ever forgive myself. I don't think I'm worthy of forgiveness."

Amanda was silent throughout all of this. In her times as the nurse's assistant, she'd managed to tell if people were lying through their facial expressions. But she knew Isabella was genuine.

"I know I'm not worth it, but I just want to say that I'm sorry for what happened at that orphanage," She said, as tears poured from her eyes. As she said those words, she felt a force pressed against her. She opened her eyes to see Amanda hugging her tightly, tears streaming from her own eyes.

"You-you're hugging me?" Isabella asked in disbelief. "After what I did to you?"

Amanda broke out of her hug. "When I talked to Mirror Isabella, I meant every word," She said, smiling softly. "And it applies to you as well, You don't have to be alone."

Isabella smiled as joyful tears sprang from her eyes, and the two girls embraced each other again.

* * *

"You think you can walk?" Janet asked Sam as he began to get up fro the bed.

"It's a nasty injury, but I can take it," Sam reassured her. At that moment, Mirror Isabella appeared in the room. Her hands were encased on some sort of crystalline, and an adult mirror person was following her close behind.

Janet froze a bit, but she stood her ground, standing next to Sam.

"Look, Sam, I'm sorry for what happened to you," Mirror Isabella said, gesturing to the cut on Sam's side.

"I'm not the one you need to feel sorry for," Sam said, not raising his voice. "Mirror Isabella, for years, I've always looked up to you, and I've always tried to ignore what you've done. But you hurt a lot of people today, and a sorry isn't going to fix that."

Mirror Isabella's face fell at this, and her shoulders slumped.

"Look, you need to get some help," Sam said, putting a hand on her shoulder. "You can't just ignore all of this."

"That's the thing, Sam," Mirror Isabella said, on the verge of tears. "You see that man over there?" She gestured to the man behind her.

Sam nodded, confused.

"Look, I'm going to be...away for some time," Mirror Isabella confessed. "He's taking me to a psychiatric hospital, so they can cure my personality disorder." She let some tears stream down her cheeks.

Sam was struck hard. He hadn't thought that would happen. In spite of what she'd done, he couldn't think of parting with her, even if it was only temporary.

"When will you be back?" Sam asked.

"I don't know," Mirror Isabella said. "But I'll come visit, and when my other personality submerges, I'll come back to stay." She gave a hopeful smile.

The man grabbed Mirror Isabella by the arm and led her out of the room, leaving Sam and Janet. Janet put her hand on Sam's shoulder.

"Sam, you can't leave that mirror out in the forest," She said to him. "You don't have to stay there. We can take the mirror into the city, into our house. You can live with us."

Sam's eyes brightened up, and he turned to Janet.

"What do you say?" Janet asked for some clarification.

Sam said nothing; instead, he smiled warmly.

* * *

_Okay, only two chapters left._


	47. Epilogue

_A-Plus Cassiopeia: We're just wrapping things up by now. As for the hashtag, Mirror Isabella's, for the most part, has been forgiven, so...better luck next time._

_BookMast3r: Let's be honest, she probably would have if Sam hadn't freed himself from the tar pit. She was just too busy lamenting to do something at the moment._

* * *

The very next day, the mirror leading into the Mirror Dimension was placed in Janet's room on the wall.

When Sam and Janet had broke the news to everyone else, there had been quite the conversation as to whether this was a good thing or not. Isabella had been the most opposed to the idea, especially since this would mean she would be getting adopted by the same family she'd detested for two years. Agatha and Felix were surprisingly agreeable on the matter, especially considering they had been trapped in a mirror a day ago by a mirror person. In the back of her head, Janet assumed they were happy because they thought they would get publicity for adopting a bunch of mirror people, but she said nothing.

Lizzy and Kizzy spent hours contemplating this, but in the end, they agreed. As Janet found out later on, they were orphans just like the Crystal family, and they'd practically forgotten what it was like to have a family.

David readily agreed with the idea. Janet was somewhat stunned; she'd have thought David would've hated the idea of being related to someone like Isabella, but he gladly accepted the proposal.

Mirror Isabella, unsurprisingly, had no say in the matter. She didn't find out until days afterwards, and when she did, she didn't complain, something that shocked Sam and Janet even more.

After the mirror was placed back in the city, the public flocked to the Barrets neighborhood, ecstatic at what had happened. It was surprising, to say the least, that these same people that had been terrorized and imprisoned by Mirror Isabella were now readily excited to enter the Mirror Dimension to inspect what was within there.

It seemed like everything had changed drastically, for everyone, but especially Sam. For a time, he was like a celebrity to the city, especially when they learned of how he'd taken part in freeing the city. Sam enjoyed the attention, but sometimes, it was too much for him. When he felt overwhelmed, he would return to the Mirror Dimension, where life there had also taken a turn for him, but not as much.

It was a wonder to Sam, how much his life had changed for the better, and all because of two Earth-dimension children, whom he'd feared would reject him. And yet, it was due to them that his life had become better than it ever had been before.

* * *

"Um, Sam, you think I can really do this?" David asked, concerned, as he and Sam stepped onto the now-frozen tar pit, which had become more of an attraction now then before it had frozen. Now, people would come to ice-skate on it for fun. Currently, Amanda, Kizzy and Lizzy were all skating on it.

"Oh, come on, it's easy," Sam reassured, skating a few inches onto the ice.

"Well, yeah, but I've never ice-skated before," David admitted, looking to the ground in shame.

"Do your parents ever do anything with you?" Sam asked. A few feet away, Felix and Agatha, who were sitting on a log, both called out, "Hey!"

Sam, and even David, both stifled their laughter at that. Using his transparent arms, Sam grabbed David by the jacket and pulled him onto the ice. He screamed for a bit, then found, to his shock, that he was actually skating.

"Hey, I'm doing it, I'm doing it!" He shouted gleefully, fist-pumping the air as he skidded on the frozen ground. On another log, Ophelia and Pandora sarcastically clapped for him. Isabella, who was sitting next to them, elbowed Ophelia, and the two girls began clapping more enthusiastically.

A few feet away, Brenda was talking with Janet. "So, Little Jane, I'd just like to say thank you for giving me a second chance," She said, trying to hide her enjoyment. "It really makes me happy that we can be friends now, after all I did."

Janet smiled warmly and nodded. As Brenda began to walk towards the frozen tar pit, Janet looked up a hill to see a lonely figure, sitting on a large rock.

It was Mirror Isabella. She'd come on one of her visits, constantly monitored in case she lashed out, and she was currently sitting away from everyone else. Her head was lowered, and her long hair concealed her face.

Admittedly, Janet would've liked to leave her. Mirror Isabella was the only person Janet truly detested, so if anyone deserved to feel bitter, it was her. But, be it her conscience, Janet couldn't just leave her be.

Slowly, Janet inched up the hill towards Mirror Isabella, who hadn't noticed her approaching. Once she was within arm's length, Janet gently nudged Mirror Isabella's shoulder with her the tip of her knuckle. Mirror Isabella jerked off the rock, obviously startled, and saw it was Janet.

"Hey," Janet whispered softly, waving her arm slightly. Mirror Isabella rubbed her face a bit, and Janet could see she was wiping away tears.

After Mirror Isabella calmed down enough, she whispered out a meek, "Hey," in return. Janet found it somewhat astounding how meek Mirror Isabella seemed now, in comparison to what she had been like beforehand. She seemed smaller now, more timid, and she was dressed in a pale white, instead of her usual wear.

"The doctor says I should control my temper," Mirror Isabella explained, as if she were reading Janet's thoughts. "What are you doing up here, Janet?"

"I saw your alone, up here, and you seemed sad," Janet said awkwardly. She saw all of the other stones and said, "What is this place?"

Mirror Isabella brightened the stones a bit so that Janet could see clearly.

_Mirror Adam Crystal _

_1973 - 2006_

_Mirror Helen Crystal_

_1974 - 2006_

"Oh, those were your parents," Janet correctly guessed. She then realized she and Mirror Isabella were standing in a graveyard.

"My parents died after Sam and Isabella's died," Mirror Isabella explained. "When a Mirror person dies, so does their reflection."

Janet's face drooped. She couldn't imagine what it would be like to lose her parents. Considering the time they'd died, Mirror Isabella would've been very young, probably a toddler, and Sam and Mirror Samson would've been merely infants.

"I don't even know how they died," Mirror Isabella lamented. "They were out in the Earth-dimension when it happened. Whatever it was, now I had to look out for my siblings, alone. Do you know what that's like?"

Janet paused for a moment, and admitted, "...No." However, then she added, "But I know what it's like to be alone. Thinking that nobody will be there for you when things are too difficult for you. Thinking that there's nothing you can do when someone tries to hurt you and your loved ones. I think that's how everyone felt when you trapped them in your mirror."

Janet could see Mirror Isabella's eyes widen slightly at that, and then a few tears began to stream down her face. They were a dark blue, and looked more like paint than tears. They dripped onto the ground.

"Well, you'll never be alone again," Janet said. "Neither will your family. In fact, you have a new family now. Sam and Isabella are in it. They thought they should've feared us, but look at how much we care for them. Maybe you should think of that as well."

Without another word, Janet slipped down from the hill to rejoin everyone else at the frozen tar pit, leaving Mirror Isabella up at the graveyard.

Mirror Isabella stared down at Janet as she rejoined the others.

"Family, hm..." She whispered to herself. She stayed up at the hill for a moment. Then, she slipped down the hill as well to join the others below.

* * *

**The End**


	48. End Credits

_Nope, no replies to in this final chapter. This is basically the "End Credits" of this story. As of note, the song below is not an official song, but a youtube song version of ''Norman's Walk''. I felt it tied in with this story nicely, and it can be found on Youtube._

_With that said, let's continue._

* * *

**Directed by: Lord Candycane**

**Written by: Lord Candycane**

**Produced by: Lord Candycane**

_We know the truth_

_He's just like you and me_

_Why can't you see?_

_Are differences are just as key_

_As similarities._

_So quick to judge_

_So slow to love_

_Why can't you understand?_

_We're all the same in the end._

_Why can't you understand?_

_We're the same in the end._

_We know the truth_

_He's just like you and me_

_Why can't you see?_

_Our differences are just as key _

_As similarities_

_So quick to judge_

_So slow to love_

_Why can't you understand?_

_We're all the same in the end._

_Just take each other's hand_

_We're all the same in the end_

_In the end._

**Voice Cast**

**Mason Vale Cotton as Sam Crystal**

**Ariel Winter as Janet Barret**

**Max Charles as David Barret**

**Emily Alyn Lind as Isabella Crystal**

**Spencer Lacey Ganus as Brenda Collins**

**Dakota Goyo as Mirror Samson**

**Kaitlyn Dias as Mirror Isabella**

**Kyle MacLachlan as Felix Barret**

**Donna Murphy as Agatha Barret**

**Agatha Lee Monn as Amanda**

**Merit Leighton as Kizzy**

**Paris Van Dyke as Lizzy**

**Dana Gaier as Ophelia**

**Miranda Cosgrove as Pandora**

**Kevin James as Bob Collins**

**Leah Remini as Mary Collins**

**Larry the Cable Guy as The Truck Driver**

**Gary Oldman as Policemen**

* * *

_And that is the official end of the story. Stay tuned for any new stories._


End file.
